"EU-China Summit on July 7-8... Discussions on Electric Vehicle Subsidies and More"

First Face-to-Face Meeting in 4 Years

The leaders of the European Union (EU) and China will hold a face-to-face summit for the first time in four years. This will be the first official in-person summit since the current EU Commission took office.

On the 9th (local time), Bloomberg News reported, citing multiple sources, that the EU-China summit will take place on July 7-8. The venue will be in China, although neither the EU nor China has officially announced the dates.

At an official bilateral EU summit, both the head of the executive branch, the President of the European Commission, and the permanent President of the European Council, representing the 27 EU member states, attend simultaneously. Accordingly, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, permanent President of the European Council, are expected to visit China together in line with the summit schedule.

While the EU leadership has individually visited China and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, this will be the first official face-to-face summit since the current EU Commission took office four years ago.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The main agenda items at this summit are expected to include the EU's 'de-risking' strategy, the war in Ukraine, and the investigation into subsidies for electric vehicles.

President von der Leyen has been emphasizing the de-risking strategy since March. The EU's strategy toward China is shifting from 'decoupling,' which means completely severing economic ties, to 'de-risking,' which aims to maintain economic relations while reducing excessive dependence and mitigating risks. To this end, the EU is expected to demand that China improve its unfair market practices to reduce the trade deficit with China.

Regarding the prolonged war in Ukraine, China is expected to be urged to play a responsible role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Earlier, Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, visited Beijing last month and emphasized that "China should strengthen humanitarian support for Ukraine."

China has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the EU's anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese-made electric vehicles, which began last month. Therefore, various EU trade and commercial measures targeting China are also likely to be discussed at the summit. Bloomberg reported, "The most important agenda item at this summit will be the EU's anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.