Transcription
Good evening everybody. It's a pleasure to welcome you, uh, at this press conference following the 25th EU China summit. Uh, President of the European Council, Antonio Kosha, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula Vander Lion, will brief you on the meetings they had with President Xi and Premier Lee. And without further delay, I'll give the floor to President Kosha.
Good evening. We have just concluded the fifth, the 25th European Union China summit. I would like to thank President Chi and Prime Premier Prime Minister Lee for hosting us today and for the open and frank exchanges that we had. This EU China summit takes place on the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. This anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on our shared story and to look towards the future.
Over the past five decades, European Union and China relations have evolved greatly. The European Union remains committed to deepening our bilateral partnership, making concrete progress in addressing concerns with respect, goodwill, and honesty. We have become key trading partners and developed a wide-ranging, rich, and deep cooperation. The European Union and China are major economies and global powers. How we engage and cooperate matters to the world. The European Union and China have a shared interest in pursuing a constructive, stable, balanced, and mutually beneficial relationship. We want to work together on global peace and security, prosperity, and sustainable development. As such, tackling the global challenge of climate change is a shared priority.
Today, we discussed with President Xi and Premier Lee ways to further expand and deepen our longstanding engagement, both bilaterally and as responsible leaders at the global level. We agreed that the European Union and China have a joint responsibility to uphold the Paris Agreement. And I'm very pleased that for today's summit, we have managed to agree on a substantive joint statement on our cooperation in the climate field. This sends an important message on our work together. And we encourage China to also propose an ambitious nationally determined contribution for COP 30, and China should lead by example in line with its major global role.
We agreed that we have a shared responsibility to support multilateralism and the rules-based international order and to uphold the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has a key role and responsibility on this. In this context, we addressed Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The war in Ukraine goes far beyond Europe. It is a conflict with global implications that undermines the rules-based international order and is not just a European conflict. And we agreed on the need to achieve a just and lasting peace as soon as possible. Today's discussion was one of great sincerity. This discussion must continue, even if we don't agree on certain issues.
Promoting and protecting human rights is a central pillar of the European Union's engagement with other countries, including with China. We welcome the recent round of the European Union China human rights dialogue that took place in Brussels in June. Today, we reiterated our concerns, and we will continue engaging on this important topic. Last but not least, an important part of our agenda concerned our trade and economic relations. The European Union and China together account for over a third of global GDP. So having a fair balance in our economic relations is essential. We discussed trade distortions, imbalances, and market access issues with one clear message as a bottom line: a fair and mutually beneficial trade relations are possible and should be our joint aim.
Together with President Fonder and the EU Representative, I came to Beijing to address all these issues directly with China's President Xi and Premier Lee. The European Union always prioritizes open and constructive dialogue to find shared solutions. Dialogue and negotiation are in our DNA. That's what we did today in an open and frank manner. Now it is time to put today's discussion into action and to make further progress. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Europe and China are indeed two of the world's three largest economic and trade powers, and that makes our relationship one of the most consequential of the 21st century. From the outset, Europe's approach has been clear, consistent, and result-driven. We are defending our interests. We are carefully implementing a de-risking strategy, and we are strengthening our economic security and our competitors. Meanwhile, we remain committed to frank, respectful, and open dialogue with China, and today's summit provided exactly that. It was a valuable opportunity to work towards concrete progress in key areas of our bilateral relations, but it also clearly explained our concerns with the Chinese leadership, particularly in trade and investment.
And let me start with this, a few points. Today, the European Union accounts for an impressive 14.5% of China's total exports. Yet, China only represents 8% of our exports. These numbers speak to the scale of our relationship, but they also expose a growing imbalance. It is mostly due to an increasing number of trade distortions and market access issues. But unlike other major markets, Europe keeps its market open to Chinese goods. This reflects our longstanding commitment to rules-based trade. However, this openness is not matched by China. The European Union deficit with China has doubled in the last few years. So we have reached a clear inflection point. As we said to the Chinese leadership, for trade to remain mutually beneficial, it must become more balanced. Europe welcomes competition, likes competition, but competition has to be fair. So we raised three priority areas where we believe progress is both possible and needed.
The first is market access. Reciprocity is a simple and clear principle in this regard. At our summit, I referred to the importance of reciprocity in public procurement, and today we agreed to work on concrete solutions for that.
The second issue is the need to rebalance our economic relationship. This is important, especially at a time when we are making significant investments, for example, in the clean energy transition. The Chinese leadership has started to look into this issue under the term "consumption" and expressed willingness to support more the consumption and less the production part. This is important. We need to see progress on this issue, the production part. This is important. We need to see progress on this issue because without progress, it would be very difficult for the European Union to maintain its current level of openness.
The third issue we raised was export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets from China. As you know, these export controls have placed significant strain on some European companies. To keep trust in our trade relationship, we need reliable and secure supply of critical raw materials from China. Being seen as a reliable supplier and partner is clearly aligned with China's long-term economic and strategic interests. So we acknowledge China's efforts on fast-tracking licenses for the critical raw materials, and we agreed, and this is new, to have an upgraded export supply mechanism. In other words, if there are bottlenecks, this upgraded supply chain support mechanism can immediately check and solve the problem or the issue that is out there.
The need to rebalance our relationship is even more urgent in today's context of the global rise of tariffs. As two of the world's largest economies, the European Union and China share a responsibility to uphold and reform the global trading system so we can keep it open, fair, and grounded on rules. This responsibility also extends to upholding international norms, rules, and institutions. And this is why we raised the critical issue of China's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. This has a direct and dangerous impact on Europe's security. And we expressed together our expectations that China would follow up on our concerns and the expectation that it would use its influence to bring Russia to accept a ceasefire, to come to the negotiation table, enter peace talks, and put an end to the bloodshed. How China continues to interact with Putin's war will be a determining factor for our relations going forward.
Finally, we discussed climate change. Our joint statement on climate and the environment is a big step forward. We both see the opportunities to work closer together in sectors such as emission trading, just introduced here in China, carbon capture and storage, the circular economy, and our cooperation can set a global benchmark. Together, the European Union and China must uphold the Paris Agreement now more than ever. The European Union is doing its fair share. China's climate ambition matters immensely. We're both convinced that the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity loss, and pollution requires a strong multilateral framework, and we both want COP 30 in Bejing to deliver ambitious results. From the summit, I gather that there is a lot we can do together despite our differences. We have differences. We can find pragmatic solutions. Europe will always defend its interests, as China would. We are ready to enhance bilateral cooperation and build a more balanced and more stable relationship. We know the next 50 years of EU China relations will be shaped by the choices we make today. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Um, I'll open the floor for questions. Please note that there's interpretation provided in English and in Chinese. I'll start with the paper. Thank you. Good evening, presidents. Um, question from the paper. And we, we all know that there are mainly differences between China and the EU. We have different social systems, different cultures and history, and also we have some different views on some bilateral and international issues. So my question is, as we mark our 50th anniversary, how can we keep these divergences from our cooperation and communication in the future? Thank you.
Well, by dialogue, first of all. We respect, of course, the difference of the systems, but by dialogue is the only way to ensure mutual understanding, to identify problems, and to address these problems, to find solutions, and also to work together. In spite of this difference, in the matters that we need to work together because they are global challenges, and the world needs close cooperation between the European Union and China, and this is the reason why we are here. We have been here doing this all day, working with President Xi, working with Prime Minister Lee. And now, I think we have a clear work to develop together.
Yeah, indeed. This is a relationship that is as important as it is complex, without any question. And therefore, openness, frankness, mutual understanding, so listening to each other must be the foundation of our discourse, our dialogue. And I think the summit delivered exactly on that. We have very frankly and openly raised our concerns very clearly, very directly. You know, the trade and investment and geopolitical issues that we mentioned. We have partially identified solutions. I mentioned the mechanism if there are bottlenecks in the export controls that we have a swift solution for that one, for example. And of course, we also recognize that we have shared challenges or concerns where together we can make a big difference. And this is, for example, the fight against climate change or protecting, protecting the environment, but also humanitarian needs, development aid, and topics like this. So it was a, full of different topics, was a day, but very constructive and very pragmatic.
Um, thank you. I'll give the question to Reuters. Microphone, please. Sorry. Um, how close is the EU to a trade deal with the US? And what are the key sticking points? And what concessions is the EU willing to offer President Trump? And lastly, how has the potential EU US trade deal affected the dynamic of today's summit discussions? Do you think that's changed the way the Chinese have approached Europeans? Thank you.
So, um, as during all these weeks, our primary focus is on achieving a negotiated solution. We want a negotiated solution. We have at the moment very intense technical and political contacts and discussions that are ongoing. Um, but we are very clear since weeks also why we want a negotiated solution. All other instruments are on the table and remain on the table till we have a satisfactory result. Now, to the second part of your question, um, our relationship with China is of importance, but it stands on its own merits. That's also very important. It's independent of the actions or the issues we have with others. Um, and I think what we just referred to, what we discussed during the summit speaks for itself, underscores a shared responsibility that we have, but also the differences that we have to tackle. Thank you.
Uh, I will give a question to Phoenix. Thank you. With Phoenix TV. I want to raise a question to President Von der Leyen. You said in your meeting with President Xi that EU China ties are at an inflection point, and you raised concerns from the EU side. But my question is, um, what is it that the EU is willing to do to really maintain this relationship stable and sustainable? Thank you.
Yeah, indeed, I used the term that we are at an inflection point. It is an important relationship that we have, but to be successful, we need to see more progress on the issues that are challenging for us. So, important is to listen to each other and to find pragmatic solutions. And you might know that we have several high-level dialogues. We have the very successful high-level dialogue on climate and environment. It took place, I think, a week or 10 days ago, with a good result of the joint statement. We have a very important high-level dialogue on the economy and trade. The issues I was mentioning in my statement are very dominant there. Important on human rights, and we launched today, as I said, the new export supply mechanism that looks at export controls and makes sure that there are no bottlenecks, no slowing down the process of delivering critical raw materials that are under the export controls to the companies that need it. So, very pragmatic, but it's important to listen to each other because then you can often dissolve prejudices. You can find where the issue is really painful and where you have to find a solution, and then you have a pragmatic approach to the whole topic. Thank you.
Uh, next to Al Jazeera. Thank you for the opportunity. Um, I would like to know, um, on Ukraine, the topic of Ukraine. So, I mean, we come from some tough weeks on the respect with reports published on Wang Yi expressing in his visit to the EU this idea of China not interested in the end of the war, and of course, the recent sanctions package. And you've expressed that you, you told the Chinese side your concerns. I would like to know, did you receive any new commitments from the Chinese side, or did they reckon anything new? Did they understand your points? Thank you.
First of all, we share with Russia, with China, two important points. First of all, the European Union and China, we uphold the United Nations Charter, and namely the values of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and respect of the internationally recognized borders. And several times, China expressed the same position about this war in the United Nations and recently voted the resolution presented by several member states of the European Union in the General Assembly. Second, we expressed the same wish to reach a just and lasting peace as soon as possible. And we had the opportunity to express first our conviction that China, as a permanent member of the Security Council, has a special responsibility to influence Russia to stop this war, to accept an unconditional ceasefire, and to go to a fair negotiation with Ukraine. And of course, we also stressed that in wartime, dual-use goods often are used as enablers of the war. And for this reason, we ask Russia to pay attention to their exports to Russia to avoid the use of dual-use goods for war purposes.
Yeah, indeed. We have been very clear on that topic. China has an influence on Russia like the European Union has an influence on Ukraine, and that it is our expectation that China uses this influence to make sure that Russia is coming seriously to the negotiation table, like we in the European Union don't even have to use our influence because President Zelensky has already offered and is at the negotiation tables and offered to sit down and negotiate seriously with Russia. In those negotiations, then I fully acknowledge that two sovereign countries decide on what they want to discuss and how they want to discuss and what the outcome in the very end is. But important is that we have a ceasefire and that the negotiations at the table take place. There's a true and genuine willingness to find a solution and to end the bloodshed. Thank you.
We will take one final question, uh, from AFP. Thank you. Uh, my question from AFP is, European leadership talks about balancing its trade relationship with China, but there have been no signs of a shrinking deficit with European markets heavily dependent on imports from China. I haven't understood. Sorry. But can you repeat, can you repeat the question please?
Sure. Sure. My question is, uh, that European leadership talks about balancing its trade relationship with China, but there have been no signs of a shrinking deficit with European markets, still heavily dependent on China for materials in technology and energy and other manufacturing components, while also lobbying for these loosened export restrictions on rare earths. All right. So, what are some practical steps that the EU plans to take to address the $360 billion trade deficit with China? And can you provide any glimpse into the timeframe of that? Thank you.
So we had today a very interesting business community meeting, Chinese businesses and European businesses, and there was also very clear that it is three main issues that are restricting the potential that could be possible in trade between the European Union and China, and this is the lack of market access, the tariff barriers partially, but also the non-tariff barriers areas. For example, the "buy China" principle is often used by local authorities not to allow European companies to compete on a fair level playing field. So market access is one big topic.
The second topic is indeed, um, the export controls, or let's say the reliability of supply chains. And here, the reliability of supply chains is very much focused on the topic of critical raw materials, permanent magnets, rare earths, for example. Here, I think the summit showed that we can find practical solutions, that there will be more transparency about the speed of allowing the export license to function, as more speed in delivering on these critical raw materials to the companies. And if there is a delay, a critical delay, we have now established a mechanism where the companies can immediately ask us to mediate and to find out why there's a delay on the delivery of the critical raw materials to the companies. So, very pragmatic step forward, and one of the major topics the companies in the European Union are complaining about. And as I said, if it comes to the Chinese market, it's mostly the access to the market that is demanded.
That's it for tonight. Thank you for attending this press.