Exclusive | China’s commerce chief to visit Brussels as EU trade relations sour

Trip in April comes as broad concerns surface across Europe about bloc’s dependence on Beijing for important commodities
Meanwhile, European Commission president lays out blueprint for tougher China approach focused on economic security

China-EU relations

Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels

Published: 12:45am, 31 Mar 2023

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Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is set to visit Brussels in April, even as the European Union explores ways of “de-risking” its trade relations with Beijing.

Wang is expected to meet with senior EU officials in the coming weeks, while he is also set to take in other European capitals including Berlin, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.

He is likely to be looking to find ways of steadying the ship at a turbulent time for China-EU relations.

While China became the EU’s biggest trading partner in 2020, broad concerns have surfaced in Brussels and beyond about the bloc’s dependence on China for important commodities.

Member states consistently talk about the need to be “less naive” when it comes to the Asian power, and even as bilateral trade has soared in recent years, ties have frayed over Beijing’s relationship with Russia, its human rights record, and persistent complaints over China’s economic model.

On Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid out a blueprint for a tougher China approach, focused on economic security, which will be followed up in policy form before the end of the year.

Accordingly, the EU will consider restricting European companies from investing in some Chinese sectors such as robotics, artificial intelligence, microelectronics and quantum computing, she said.

“We need to ensure that our companies’ capital, expertise, and knowledge are not used to enhance the military and intelligence capabilities of those who are also systemic rivals,” von der Leyen said.

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The German insisted she was not seeking to decouple from China, but made clear that areas of cooperation were becoming few and far between.

“There are some islands of opportunity that we can build on,” she said, before adding that an EU-China investment pact agreed in 2020 and frozen due to sanctions needed to be “reassessed”.

The Chinese mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request to comment on von der Leyen’s speech.

Wang will no doubt be keen to discuss a raft of legislation targeting China that is being drafted in Brussels.

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The bloc is working on laws that would wean it off China’s dominant supplies of critical minerals like lithium and cobalt, and another that would strengthen domestic production of clean technology such as solar and wind equipment, at the expense of Chinese suppliers.

On Tuesday, the EU finalised the text of an anti-coercion instrument, designed to bite back at perceived economic bullying by Beijing.

Chinese companies in Europe, meanwhile, are facing blowback over security concerns, particularly in the technology sector. Chinese-owned video app TikTok has been banned on work phones in EU institutions, with multiple national governments following suit.

Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecoms giant, has been frozen out of many EU member states’ 5G infrastructures. On Tuesday, Politico reported that Belgium’s intelligence service was investigating Huawei’s lobbying operations in Brussels for potential espionage.

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Nonetheless, the EU remains open to talking to China, Von der Leyen will join French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing next week for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a diplomatic flurry, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will meet Xi on Friday, while the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell will visit in mid-April.

In recent days, Wang has tried to reassure Western companies that China would continue to provide bountiful market opportunities.

On Tuesday, he met the chief executive of Dutch hi-tech manufacturer ASML, Peter Wennink, and told him Beijing would remain a reliable partner.

According to a Chinese readout of the meeting, Wang told Wennink he “hopes ASML will maintain its confidence in investing and collaborating with China, and make significant contributions to China-Netherlands economic cooperation”.

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This comes as the Netherlands mulls restricting Chinese access to ASML’s hi-tech semiconductor-making machines. ASML is the world leader in producing the sophisticated – and expensive – photolithography machines that are essential to making advanced microchips.

Earlier this month, China’s envoy to the Netherlands warned that such a move would “not be without consequences”.

“I’m not going to speculate on countermeasures, but China won’t just swallow this,” ambassador Tan Jian said in an interview with Het Financieele Dagblad, a Dutch newspaper.

Wang also met Apple CEO Tim Cook on the margins of this week’s Boao Forum in Hainan province, where they discussed stabilising supply chains.

According to the commerce ministry, Wang told Cook that China was willing to provide a good environment and services for foreign companies, including Apple.