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Keegan Elmer

China’s President Xi Jinping said his country’s development was not a threat to the EU in a telephone call with the new European Council President Charles Michel on Monday, stressing that Beijing’s policies towards the bloc remained unchanged.
Xi’s message came with the European Union increasingly framing China as a competitor as well as partner, and with a new EU leadership taking office this month.
“China sees its relations with the EU from a long-term, high-level, strategic perspective,” Xi told Michel, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry on Monday evening. “China and the EU are mutually beneficial partners, not zero-sum competitors.
“China’s development is an opportunity for the EU, not a challenge.”

 
Xi also said China would continue to work with the EU on enacting the Paris climate accord, and to push for reform of the World Trade Organisation.
Michel said China and the EU had a “series of important high-level exchanges and cooperation priorities” in the coming year, according to the Chinese foreign ministry statement.
China refuses to give up ‘developing country’ status at WTO
In addition to the annual EU-China summit, next year due to take place in Beijing, the two sides will hold a summit next autumn in Leipzig, Germany, which Xi and leaders from EU countries are expected to attend.
The two sides have also pledged to complete an investment agreement before the end of 2020. Xi said in Monday’s phone call that he hoped for an early completion of the deal.


Michel officially took over from Donald Tusk last week as president of the European Council, which comprises leaders of the EU member states and defines the bloc’s political direction and priorities. Xi held a congratulatory phone call with Michel after his election in July.
“Looking forward to strengthening our cooperation on climate change, trade and investments and a rules-based order,” Michel wrote on Twitter after Monday’s phone call.
What’s ahead for new EU commission as it addresses imbalances in China ties
The EU has taken measures in the past year to address China’s rising influence in Europe.
The 28-member bloc introduced a tougher foreign investment screening mechanism following a string of Chinese acquisitions of European companies, and labelled China a “systemic competitor”, as well as a partner for cooperation, in a strategy document.
Europe needs to adopt a harder line on China, former envoy says
The Leipzig summit was announced in October by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will hold the EU presidency in the second half of 2020.
“The EU does not currently have a joint China policy, which is not good for the EU,” Merkel told the German parliament when announcing the China summit.


Time for Germany to see reason and improve relations with China

Temu’s Dublin office raided by EU regulators on Chinese subsidy concerns

France and China are testing an alternative to zero-sum diplomacy

European firms need to abandon overreliance on China and US, chamber report warns

China-EU relations

China is not a threat, Xi Jinping tells new European Council President Charles Michel

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would work with the EU to push for reform of the World Trade Organisation. Photo: EPA-EFE

Large European firms sidestepping ‘futile’ tariffs, not moving from China to US, survey suggests

The survey suggested larger European companies had re-routed or relocated to get around the tariffs. Photo: AP

China and EU try to forge common front to lead fight against climate change

Last month’s flooding in Venice highlighted concerns about climate change. Photo: EPA-EFE

In this Nov. 28, 2019, photo, smoke and steam rise from a coal processing plant that produces carbon black, an ingredient in steel manufacturing, in Hejin in central China's Shanxi Province. As world leaders gather in Madrid to discuss how to slow the warming of the planet, a spotlight is falling on China, the top emitter of greenhouse gases. China burns about half the coal used globally each year. Yet it's also the leading market for solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles. (AP Photo/Olivia Zhang)

A picture taken on June 27, 2019 shows a thermometer indicating nearly 40 degrees Celsius in Rennes, western France during a heat wave. - Europeans braced on June 27, 2019 for the expected peak of a sweltering heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius, with schools in France closing and wildfires in Spain spinning out of control. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

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China

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Pair share phone call as Michel takes office at a time when Europe is becoming more wary of Beijing
Rise of China is an opportunity for the EU, Xi says



Rise of China is an opportunity for the EU, Xi says in phone call as Michel takes office at a time when Europe is becoming more wary of Beijing.


Xi Jinping

China is not a threat, Xi Jinping tells new European Council President Charles Michel

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Pair share phone call as Michel takes office at a time when Europe is becoming more wary of Beijing Rise of China is an opportunity for the EU, Xi says

Pair share phone call as Michel takes office at a time when Europe is becoming more wary of Beijing

Rise of China is an opportunity for the EU, Xi says