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Leaders of the European Union met with China\u2019s top leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Thursday in an effort to stabilize a relationship that has deteriorated in recent years over security, a soaring trade imbalance and China\u2019s tacit support for Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Mr. Xi\u2019s meeting with Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, was the first in-person summit of the leaders of China and the European Union in more than four years.<\/p>\n
The summit was not expected to result in any significant breakthroughs. Trust between the China and the European Union has been eroded by failed promises to open China\u2019s market wider for European businesses, as well as by Beijing\u2019s crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. China also views Europe as being widely influenced by Beijing\u2019s chief competitor, the United States.<\/p>\n
Beijing has tried to court Europe to drive a wedge between the region and Washington. The war in Ukraine, however, has only strengthened the trans-Atlantic alliance as Europe has grown increasingly reliant on Washington for military aid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The 27-member European bloc has labeled Beijing a \u201cstrategic rival\u201d and agreed in June to work toward \u201cde-risking\u201d its supply chains by limiting their dependence on Chinese firms. The European Union has also aligned itself with the United States in adopting restrictions on the trade of high-tech products with China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Those moves underscore the widening rift between the West and China as Mr. Xi has adopted a more assertive foreign policy aimed at reshaping the global order to serve Chinese interests. According to an official summary from China of Mr. Xi\u2019s meeting with the European leaders, Mr. Xi urged them to bolster cooperation with China to enhance \u201cpolitical mutual trust\u201d and \u201celiminate all kinds of interference,\u201d a tacit reference to Washington. <\/p>\n
Chinese officials have sought to push back on the European Union\u2019s efforts to limit its economic dependence on China, saying that the two sides are not rivals, and that their common interests far outweigh their differences. It remains to be seen how far China will go to placate European officials at the summit.<\/p>\n
No issue has frustrated European officials more than Beijing\u2019s refusal to curtail its support for Moscow. China has aided Russia\u2019s war effort by purchasing Russian oil and supplying the Kremlin\u2019s military with microchips, drones and other equipment that is believed to fall just short of arms and ammunition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Despite the backlash, China is highly unlikely to abandon Russia, calculating that it needs Moscow in the long run, as a partner in countering the United States\u2019 global dominance.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the European side, one of the main tasks for the summit in Beijing is to clearly convey the message that China-Russia cooperation and its impact on the war in Ukraine remain the fundamental element shaping the future of E.U.-China relations,\u201d Alicja Bachulska, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said in an email.<\/p>\n
Tensions are also rising over the cheaper Chinese electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines that have flooded the European market.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The region recorded a $426 billion trade deficit with China last year, its biggest ever. And as China\u2019s economy struggles amid a spiraling housing crisis, the country may seek to ramp up exports as an engine of growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In September, the European Union formally started an investigation<\/a> into whether electric car makers in China<\/a> have received government subsidies, a move that could result in tariffs. Electric vehicles are an especially sensitive issue because auto manufacturing plays an outsized role in Europe\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n \u201cEurope is open for competition, not for a race to the bottom,\u201d Ms. von der Leyen said earlier this year. \u201cWe must defend ourselves against unfair practices.\u201d<\/p>\n China has dismissed many of Europe\u2019s complaints about the trade imbalance, saying it does not reflect the true nature of the economic relationship. A significant portion of China\u2019s exports to Europe are from European-owned companies based in China, it says.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough China appears to have the trade surplus, in fact, the European Union has reaped considerable profits,\u201d Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The success of China\u2019s industry is a result of early investment and innovation, not subsidies, said Tu Xinquan, dean of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a sense of crisis in the E.U. because the auto industry is crucial for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n European businesses also complain of shrinking market access in China because of laws requiring foreign firms to use Chinese suppliers. Other laws concerning national security have also made China a more fraught environment for European firms.<\/p>\n Keith Bradsher contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n