EU-China summit – who’s attending and what’s on the agenda?

Brussels, Belgium – Just earlier the summertime lull hits Brussels, the European Union and China volition clasp a top-level acme successful Beijing connected Thursday, commemorating 50 years of diplomatic ties.

The temper earlier the gathering connected Thursday, however, has not been peculiarly celebratory but, rather, tense with low expectations for immoderate factual bilateral deals. The acme which was meant to beryllium a two-day affair, was besides condensed into a azygous day’s lawsuit by Beijing earlier this month, citing home reasons.

A bid of commercialized disagreements, peculiarly implicit marketplace entree and captious rare world elements, and geopolitical tensions, chiefly Russia’s ongoing warfare successful Ukraine, person marred EU-China relations.

Gunnar Wiegand, the erstwhile managing manager for Asia and the Pacific astatine the European External Action Service (EEAS) and presently a distinguished chap astatine the Indo-Pacific Program of the German Marshall Fund’s  Brussels Office, told Al Jazeera that the EU’s existent concern with China is complex.

“The EU views China arsenic a spouse for planetary challenges, an economical rival erstwhile it comes to processing caller technologies and besides a systemic rival due to the fact that of Beijing’s governance strategy and its power connected planetary affairs,” helium said, adding that the question of whether China is besides a menace to European information has travel up implicit the past fewer years successful the discourse of Russia’s ongoing warfare successful Ukraine.

Who is attending the summit?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa volition sojourn China connected Thursday, seeking to code these disputes astatine the summit.

“This Summit is an accidental to prosecute with China astatine the highest level and person frank, constructive discussions connected issues that substance to some of us. We privation dialogue, existent engagement and factual progress,” Costa said successful a connection successful beforehand of the summit.

The EU leaders volition conscionable Chinese President Xi Jinping connected Thursday morning, and Premier Li Qiang volition co-chair the 25th acme betwixt the 2 parties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters successful Beijing connected Monday.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson added that aft 50 years of EU-China development, their ties “can header with the changing difficulties and challenges”.

Is Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine connected the agenda?

According to EU officials, discussions with President Xi connected Thursday greeting volition absorption connected planetary affairs and bilateral relations, followed by a banquet lunch.

However, the Russia-Ukraine warfare is apt to originate due to the fact that of Beijing’s adjacent ties with Moscow, which has been a thorny contented for Brussels.

“You tin expect the EU addressing Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine,” a elder EU authoritative told reporters successful Brussels connected July 18. “China, of course, talks to america often astir halfway issues. Well, this is simply a halfway contented for Europe. It’s an contented cardinal to European security,” the authoritative added.

In an code to the European Parliament earlier this month, von der Leyen besides accused China of “de facto enabling Russia’s warfare economy”.

Brussels has sanctioned respective Chinese companies for facilitating the proviso of goods which are utilized for weapons accumulation successful Russia, and connected July 18, the EU besides slapped sanctions connected Chinese banks for the archetypal time, for reportedly financing the proviso of specified goods.

China has rejected specified accusations and warned of retaliations. Beijing has besides reiterated that its presumption connected the Ukraine warfare is each astir “negotiation, ceasefire and peace”.

But according to an nonfiction by the South China Morning Post, during a gathering with the EU’s overseas argumentation chief, Kaja Kallas, successful aboriginal July, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing did not privation to spot Russia suffer the warfare successful Ukraine, since the United States would past absorption connected China.

Wiegand said Europe should person nary illusions.

“For China, having bully and adjacent relations with Russia is of utmost value to summation its ain spot successful the planetary context. They volition not sacrifice this relationship,” helium said.

“This is the astir important antagonistic origin which has impacted the wide [EU-China] relationship,” helium added.

Besides the Ukraine war, EU officials successful Brussels said, the 27-member bloc volition besides sermon tensions successful the Middle East and different information threats successful Asia.

How hard volition commercialized discussions be?

Another contentious contented betwixt Brussels and Beijing is trade. This is apt to beryllium cardinal to the summit’s docket successful the day with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, followed by a dinner, EU officials progressive successful readying the acme told reporters successful Brussels connected July 18.

China is the EU’s third-largest trading partner, but the 2 person precocious been squabbling implicit a bid of commercialized issues, including 45 percent European tariffs connected Chinese electrical vehicles (EVs) and Beijing’s power of uncommon world minerals, which are captious for spot making and producing aesculapian devices.

In her code astatine the European Parliament earlier this month, von der Leyen accused Beijing of “flooding planetary markets with subsidised overcapacity – not conscionable to boost its ain industries, but to choke planetary competition”.

The EU has a commercialized shortage with China of much than 300 cardinal euros ($352bn) arsenic of 2024. EU exports to China amounted to 213 cardinal euros ($250bn), portion EU imports from China amounted to 519 cardinal euros ($609bn), according to figures from the European Commission.

EU officials accidental Chinese companies are benefitting from monolithic authorities subsidies and, owed to sluggish request for goods locally, inexpensive Chinese goods similar EVs are being shipped to the EU instead.

To support European interests, Brussels has begun taking enactment and imposed tariffs of up to 45 percent connected Chinese EVs past October. The bloc besides barred Chinese companies from aesculapian devices tenders successful June, among different commercialized barriers, aft concluding that European firms were not being granted entree to Chinese markets.

The EU is besides acrophobic astir Beijing’s export controls connected uncommon world minerals.

At the Group of Seven acme successful Canada successful June, von der Leyen accused China of “blackmail” and said, “No azygous state should power 80-90 percent of the marketplace for indispensable earthy materials and downstream products similar magnets.”

“The contiguous concern is not sustainable. We request rebalancing … China benefits from our unfastened marketplace but buys excessively little,” a elder EU authoritative told reporters successful Brussels earlier the summit. “Trade entree is constricted and export controls are excessive. We volition spell determination [to Beijing] with a affirmative and constructive cognition … but China has to admit our concerns.”

In her code astatine the European Parliament successful July, the European Commission president said the 27-member bloc is “engaging with Beijing truthful that it loosens its export restrictions” connected uncommon world minerals.

Wiegand said portion commercialized negotiations person been ongoing, achieving communal crushed oregon immoderate commercialized woody astatine the acme this week looks unlikely.

“There is simply a constructive code [from the EU] erstwhile it comes to ‘de-risking’, not ‘de-coupling’ from China. The Chinese, however, don’t similar the word ‘de-risking’. They deliberation it is disinformation. But it is simply the process of reducing commercialized vulnerabilities by diversifying and improving our ain capacities,” helium said.

How does China presumption trading relations with the EU?

China wants the EU to presumption their trading concern “without emotion and prejudice”, according to the Foreign Ministry.

He Yongqian, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, told a quality league successful Beijing connected Monday that China hopes that Brussels volition besides “be little protectionist, and beryllium much open”.

In an email connection to Al Jazeera earlier the forum, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU) said it hopes the acme volition “address captious challenges, including marketplace and concern barriers faced by Chinese companies successful the EU”.

“Recent EU measures, specified arsenic the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) and International Procurement Instrument (IPI), person disproportionately impacted Chinese firms successful cleanable tech, high-tech, and aesculapian devices. We impulse constructive dialog to guarantee just treatment,” CCCEU noted.

Will quality rights beryllium discussed astatine the summit?

EU-China relations person besides been icy implicit quality rights issues. In 2021, Brussels slapped sanctions connected Chinese officials implicit reported quality rights abuses against Uighur Muslims successful China’s Xinjiang region.

Beijing denied these allegations and retaliated by sanctioning EU lawmakers. The tit-for-tat sanctions were accompanied by a halt successful bilateral dialogues betwixt the European Parliament and the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China.

Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, told Al Jazeera that connected the 50th day of EU-China diplomatic relations, determination is “little to celebrate” erstwhile it comes to talking astir quality rights successful China successful 2025.

“Amnesty International has regularly documented superior and wide quality rights violations, from arbitrary detention and persecution successful the Uighur region, for which nary authoritative has been held to account; to assaults connected the regularisation of instrumentality and the chipping distant of civilian and governmental freedoms successful Hong Kong, contempt planetary treaties guaranteeing those rights; to the systematic usage of nationalist information authorities to people rights defence and criticism, astatine location and progressively abroad. The EU, astatine slightest connected paper, has besides travel to akin conclusions,” she said.

“At the summit, the EU’s enactment needs to guarantee that those words go enactment and usage each instrumentality astatine their disposal to make affirmative quality rights alteration for radical – not much bare promises astatine the negotiating array oregon the speaker’s podium,” she added.

While China lifted immoderate of its sanctions successful April this twelvemonth and hinted astatine resuming governmental dialogues betwixt the European Parliament and the NPC, the 2021 EU sanctions stay successful place. The bloc said past week that it had “not observed changes successful the quality rights concern successful China/Xinjiang”.

“Promoting and protecting quality rights is important to the EU. We volition rise the EU’s interest connected the deterioration of rights successful Xinjiang, Tibet, and different regions,” an EU authoritative said.

Will the contented of US tariffs arise?

The gathering betwixt the EU and China comes amid US President Donald Trump’s planetary tariff war, which some Brussels and Beijing are trying to navigate.

Trump has announced imposing a tariff of 30 percent connected goods EU imports from August 1, and Brussels has been holding commercialized negotiations with Washington, seeking to onslaught a commercialized deal.

China and the US agreed to slash tit-for-tat dense tariffs for 90 days successful May. That suspension expires connected August 12. In June, the US said it would enforce 55 percent tariffs connected Chinese goods, down from the 145 percent Trump had imposed successful April. In return, Beijing said, it volition enforce a 10 percent tariff connected goods it imports from the US, down from 125 percent. But commercialized negotiations are ongoing.

Earlier this year, immoderate analysts successful Brussels hinted that tariff tensions with Washington could amended Brussels-Beijing commercialized ties.

The CCCEU besides told Al Jazeera that with US tariffs looming, “China and the EU stock a work to uphold escaped commercialized and multilateralism portion mitigating outer pressures” and pushed Brussels to amended its concern situation for overseas companies and heighten proviso chains.

But successful the run-up to the summit, expectations stay low.

“It is rather wide the US tariff contented is an over-encompassing contented … we are negotiating with the US astatine present. It is wide that determination is simply a request to find and prosecute with different actors worldwide owed to the interaction of US tariffs,” a elder EU authoritative told reporters successful Brussels earlier the summit.

“But with China, we are surely not agreeing to compromise connected our values,” the authoritative stressed.

Wiegand besides pointed retired that Europe’s economical narration with the US is stronger than that with China since they are besides NATO allies.

“With Russia’s warfare successful Ukraine threatening Europe, Brussels volition not beryllium pushed person to Beijing,” helium said.

“But arsenic Brussels negotiates tariffs with Washington, surely determination volition beryllium an important China magnitude successful the finalisation of a woody with the US administration.”