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BRUSSELS – The President of the European Council, António Costa, warned the President of China, Xi Jinping, of the need to “readjust the existing commercial and economic imbalances” between Beijing and the European Union (EU).
In a telephone conversation with Xi Jinping, both agreed that “cooperation is preferable to competition,” according to a European source.
Costa and Xi said it is necessary to find a resolution with “mutual benefits” for the dispute over electric vehicles.
The European Commission decided to impose additional taxes on Chinese electric vehicles after an investigation conducted by the European executive itself concluded that Beijing was helping companies, leading to the price of these cars being lower than it should be. The decision was deemed anti-competitive.
The President of the European Council told the President of China that it is important to “work together to solve global problems, particularly climate change.”
The two agreed that closer cooperation between Beijing and the 27 EU countries “was a positive sign for world peace.”
The divergence between the two poles arose concerning Ukraine, which in February 2022 was subject to a Russian invasion.
During today’s conversation, António Costa warned that no country should assist Russia in the conflict, much less help Moscow circumvent the restrictions imposed by the EU.
Xi Jinping pointed out that Russia is a long-standing ally of Beijing, but said it was necessary to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
For this year, an EU-China summit is also planned, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the community bloc and Beijing. There is no specific date yet for the summit.
The last summit was in December 2023, in Beijing, and was the first in-person meeting since 2019. The covid-19 pandemic prevented other in-person meetings.
At that time, the then President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that, together with Xi Jinping, the bloc of 27 and Beijing had agreed to respect international law and cooperate to address global challenges. (01/14/25)
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