China pushes reluctant EU to form anti-Trump alliance in trade row
Officials claim Europe is resisting offer to join Beijing in joint action at World Trade Organisation despite offer of greater market access
China is putting pressure on the European Union to issue a strong joint statement against President Donald Trump’s trade policies at a summit later this month but is facing resistance, according to European officials.
In meetings in Brussels, Berlin and Beijing, senior Chinese officials, including vice-premier Liu He and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, have proposed an alliance between the two economic powers and offered to open more of the Chinese market in a gesture of goodwill.
One proposal has been for China and the European Union to launch a joint action against the United States at the World Trade Organisation.
But the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc, has rejected the idea of allying with Beijing against Washington, five EU officials and diplomats told Reuters, ahead of a Sino-European summit in Beijing on July 16-17.
Instead, the summit is expected to produce a modest communique, which affirms the commitment of both sides to the multilateral trading system and promises to set up a working group on modernising the WTO, EU officials said.
He has said privately that China is ready to set out for the first time what sectors it can open to European investment at the annual summit, expected to be attended by President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and top EU officials.