Chinese Premier Li Keqiang braces for EU meeting as Brexit takes up Brussels’ attention
- European leaders, emboldened by Trump’s trade war, look for leverage on trade and investment opportunities
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The European Union and China unexpectedly managed to agree on a joint draft statement following their summit on Tuesday, despite impatience among some EU leaders at China’s pace of opening up to trade and investment.
One of the main concerns as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang touched down in Brussels, Belgium, was whether increased tensions between China and the EU would prevent the drafting of the traditional joint statement at the end of the annual meeting.
But an EU source said on Tuesday that the bloc had managed to reach agreement on an eleventh-hour draft joint statement with China.
The draft includes fresh commitments by Beijing to speed up talks on a decade-long effort to reach an investment pact, as well as text on industrial subsidies and opening China’s market more broadly to European companies.
The joint statement will have to be signed off by Li, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council chief Donald Tusk when they wrap up the summit.