https://www.scmp.com/rss/523362/feed Sabine Weyand is the Director-General for Trade at the European Commission since June 2019. She is responsible for shaping and implementing the EU’s trade policy, negotiating agreements, and enforcing trade law. Previously, she was Deputy Chief Negotiator for Brexit, playing a crucial role in the UK negotiations. Her career at the Commission, spanning since 1994, includes major trade deals like TTIP and CETA. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is expected in Brussels for crunch talks with EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic on June 29 and 30, as trade tensions between the sides threaten to reach fever pitch. Wang’s trip – confirmed by people familiar with the planning – will come on the heels of several top-level debates in the Belgian capital about how the bloc should tackle the perceived threat of an industrial shock to its economy attributed to China’s policies. Next week, the European Commission will hold... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3354481/chinas-commerce-chief-wang-wentao-expected-brussels-june-29-and-30-sources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3354481/chinas-commerce-chief-wang-wentao-expected-brussels-june-29-and-30-sources?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 May 2026 06:04:33 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The EU’s outgoing top trade official used her departing appearance at the European Parliament to pour cold water on the prospect of an investment deal with China, hinting instead that new weapons for dealing with Chinese “macroeconomic imbalances” could be on the way. Sabine Weyand, who is leaving her role as the EU’s director general for trade after a seven-year tenure, said the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment – signed in the last days of 2020 but frozen soon after in a row over human... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352714/china-eu-investment-deal-should-stay-deep-freezer-warns-outgoing-trade-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352714/china-eu-investment-deal-should-stay-deep-freezer-warns-outgoing-trade-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 06:35:20 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham At a top-level meeting of her 26 department chiefs in March, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quietly approved a plan to stop EU funds from going to clean technology projects containing Chinese inverters. Inverters are the essential power electronics at the heart of solar and wind systems. Industry groups estimate that Chinese companies led by Huawei Technologies control more than 220 gigawatts of Europe’s installed solar capacity via the devices. The commission wants to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350056/eu-cut-funding-chinese-inverters-quiet-offensive-replaces-grandstanding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350056/eu-cut-funding-chinese-inverters-quiet-offensive-replaces-grandstanding?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 10:01:18 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A long-awaited EU debate on China has been shelved in favour of the Middle East crisis, highlighting how Europe is struggling to treat Beijing as a strategic priority despite mounting economic pressure. The European Commission’s security college was set to meet this coming Monday to debate the challenges posed by Beijing, as part of what officials were referring to internally as “China week”. It would have been the first strategic discussion among the bloc’s 27 commissioners under President... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349548/china-sidelined-eu-shelves-rare-strategy-debate-middle-east-crisis-takes-priority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349548/china-sidelined-eu-shelves-rare-strategy-debate-middle-east-crisis-takes-priority?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:00:27 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham Hua Chunying, China’s foreign vice-minister, beamed this week as she presented a leading Czech lawmaker with a decorative porcelain plate – a gift that signalled a possible thaw in ties between Prague and Beijing. The image sent tongues wagging in Europe: a symbol that a new Chinese charm offensive towards a Europe jilted by its erstwhile ally across the Atlantic had reached even its most hawkish capitals. China has spent the opening weeks of the year courting European governments, offering... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3340190/chinas-charm-offensive-beijing-bypasses-brussels-bid-soften-eu-trade-push?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3340190/chinas-charm-offensive-beijing-bypasses-brussels-bid-soften-eu-trade-push?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 15:00:15 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham EU officials are scouring the continent for levers they can pull to inflict maximum pain on others, as they look to survive in a world in which allies and partners are weaponising Europe’s own dependencies at an alarming rate. Trade bureaucrats are building a database of potential chokepoints that can be squeezed as deterrents or reactions to bullying by other powers, according to officials involved. They are lining them up with the trade weapons in their armoury, but also looking for gaps in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3327806/europe-hunts-chokepoints-it-can-weaponise-against-china-age-economic-warfare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3327806/europe-hunts-chokepoints-it-can-weaponise-against-china-age-economic-warfare?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:51:54 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham The European Union is planning to sharply ramp up its trade defences against China in the coming weeks, as it looks to protect its industries from cut-price competition and industrial spillovers in the world’s second-largest economy, a former top official has said. Speaking at an event on Thursday, former trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said there were “preparations for another 20 anti-dumping investigations in a variety of fields going on”. “So I think they will be opened consecutively in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3326974/eu-said-be-preparing-hit-china-20-new-anti-dumping-probes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3326974/eu-said-be-preparing-hit-china-20-new-anti-dumping-probes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Sep 2025 09:00:12 +0000 Yujie Xue,Daniel Ren Yujie Xue,Daniel Ren Electric vehicle (EV) makers in China, the world’s biggest market, are increasingly targeting Europe and emerging markets amid price wars and overcapacity at home, and tariff barriers in North America. China’s auto exports grew 23 per cent last year to 6.4 million units, aided by a 28 per cent jump in shipments to Russia and Belarus, and a 61 per cent surge in the Middle East, according to AlixPartners. Turkey and Mexico are also among China’s five fastest-growing export markets, including for... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3320779/chinas-ev-makers-look-overseas-growth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3320779/chinas-ev-makers-look-overseas-growth?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Aug 2025 07:10:08 +0000 Finbarr Bermingham Finbarr Bermingham A month out from a crunch summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of the European Union, senior EU officials have landed on an unsavoury term to describe their trade ties with China: “the stinking fish”. The analogy, used when briefing member state diplomats on progress in trade talks with China, refers to the European Commission’s frustration that each of its top demands from Beijing is around the removal of measures that were introduced to punish Europe or the US. Brussels... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3316062/ahead-crunch-summit-china-eu-complaining-stinking-fish?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3316062/ahead-crunch-summit-china-eu-complaining-stinking-fish?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Jun 2025 08:59:14 +0000