European Union leaders are planning to travel to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late July, according to five people familiar with the arrangement.
The plan suggests a second successive EU-China summit would be held in the Chinese capital, despite the fact that the location is supposed to rotate.
However, with Xi reluctant to make the trip to Brussels, it is understood that European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have accepted they must travel to Beijing if they want face time with the Chinese leader.
No date has been confirmed with the Chinese side, but EU leaders’ willingness to make the trip indicates a serious effort to re-engage with Beijing at a time when the bloc’s relationship with the United States has effectively collapsed.
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has seen him impose tariffs on EU goods, while he has performed a dramatic geopolitical volte-face on Ukraine, leaving Europeans to consider him on the side of the invading Russia in the three-year war.
Von der Leyen spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday, at the request of China’s No 2 official, while trade chief Maros Sefcovic spoke to Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Wednesday.
Source: SCMP
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