President of the European Council and President of China spoke on the phone at a stage of significant trade tension between the EU and China – and with many problems in the world unresolved, notably what is happening in Ukraine
According to information provided by a European source to CNN Portugal, António Costa called on China to help achieve a fair, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine and to ensure that goods and support are not supplied to Russia – which Costa says be a threat to world peace and stability. Xi Jinping immediately ruled out this hypothesis, noting that China has long-standing ties with Russia. Still, the Chinese president agreed that a just and lasting peace in the region is necessary.
This was the first phone call between the two since Costa took over as leader of the European Council and had already been reported by the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, which reported on the guarantee left by Xi Jinping that China “” with the European Union (EU).
“China remains committed to high-quality development and opening-up, which will bring new opportunities for relations with the EU,” said the Chinese head of state. Xi Jinping also guaranteed that China “supports the European integration process”, as well as the “strategic independence” of the EU.
“China has always seen Europe as an important hub in the multipolar world. We have always supported European integration and the EU’s objective of strategic autonomy.” According to Xi Jinping, the history of relations between China and the EU shows that, “if both sides maintain mutual respect, treat each other as equals and maintain frank dialogue, they can advance cooperation and achieve significant results” in various topics, including climate.
China’s leader also outlined areas for deeper EU-China cooperation in areas such as the ecological and digital transition and called for a mutually beneficial resolution of the electric vehicle dispute. While agreeing that cooperation is preferable to competition, Costa highlighted the need to ensure a level playing field and rebalance existing trade and economic imbalances.
Voltage
The call comes at a time of growing trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels. The European bloc last year imposed customs duties of between 7.8% and 35.3% on electric vehicles coming from China, which is on top of the EU’s standard 10% car import tax.
Beijing retaliated by imposing duties on European brandy and ‘antidumping’ investigations – selling price lower than production cost – into European pork and dairy products.
However, the two sides confirmed the importance of EU-China relations and agreed that the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations could provide a good opportunity to hold a successful EU-China summit at the end of the year, added the European source.
The phone conversation also comes a day after Costa announced that the leaders of the 27 EU member states, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, will meet on February 3 in Belgium to discuss European defense and security.
