In January, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the EU’s approach to China as “de-risking rather than decoupling” since the bloc still sought to work and trade with Beijing.

The commission is also urging EU members to agree to stronger controls on exports and outflows of technologies for military use by “countries of concern”.

Some EU member states worry about antagonising China and starting a trade war, while others argue now is the time to act to protect the bloc’s economic security.

China cancels trip by top EU diplomat Josep Borrell

During his meeting with Borrell, Wang called on both sides to guard against the politicisation of economic issues and the use of “de-risking” as another term for “decoupling”.

“There is no conflict of fundamental interests between China and the EU,” he said.

On Ukraine, Wang said “China supports the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture” and Beijing was “committed to promoting peace talks”.

In a post on Twitter, Borrell described his talks with Wang on managing EU-China relations as “constructive” and “in-depth”.

Borrell tweeted that he had “expressed EU expectations as to China’s role to help ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and to provide humanitarian assistance”.

He said he and Wang “also discussed on preserving stability and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait”.