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China economy
ChinaDiplomacy

China stalls on EU trade talks date as push for Lithuania WTO case gains ground, bloc officials say

  • European officials say they have proposed a number of slots but have not heard back from Beijing
  • There is also no sign of a new Chinese ambassador to the EU since Zhang Ming left in December

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Beijing has not responded to proposed dates for trade talks with the EU, European officials say. Photo: Bloomberg
Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
European Union officials are confused by China’s failure to commit to a date for trade and economic talks, one of the few deliverables from their “disastrous” summit on April 1, according to sources in Brussels.

Both parties agreed to maintain the talks, held every two years, during the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and EU institution leaders Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.

“Leaders mandated the High-level Trade and Economic Dialogue to find concrete ways to progress on these issues before the summer,” the EU said in a statement after the summit.

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But almost three months later, Brussels has been unable to nail down a date, with Beijing failing to respond to their requests, according to five senior sources familiar with the exchanges.

Proposed dates for the dialogue in June have “now slipped”, and the EU has suggested others for July, the latest of which is July 18, but China has still not responded.

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Sources said they were unsure whether it was because the summit was “such a disaster”, or China was distracted by zero Covid, or Beijing wanted to wait until after the Communist Party’s national congress later this year.
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