Relations ahead of the 24th EU-China summit | Epthinktank | European Parliament

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

72% : In 2022, China was the third largest partner for EU exports of goods (9.0 %) and the largest partner for EU imports of goods (20.8 %).
62% : At their meeting on 30 June 2023, EU Heads of State or Government agreed on a common line on China.
62% : On 16 November, von der Leyen delivered a speech on EU policy towards China in which she stressed that achieving a level playing field for EU businesses compared with their Chinese competitors was central to the EU's relationship with China.
61% : Following the confirmation of his third mandate as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in October 2022, Xi Jinping has received a number of visitors both from EU Member States and from EU institutions: The November 2022 visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was followed by a visit by Charles Michel in December 2022.
58% : Customs data also show that Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports into the EU in the first 7 months of 2023 increased by 112 % year on year, and by 361 % from 2021.
57% : Since then, the EU has adopted a number of measures to improve its economic security and to ensure a level playing-field, including with China.
53% : She went on to state that 'we must make clear that the way China positions on Russia will define our relationship for the years to come'.
51% : On 18 September, Commission Vice-President Vera Jourová co-chaired the 2nd EU-China High-Level Digital Dialogue in Beijing, which also touched on the difficulties faced by EU companies in China wishing to make use of their industrial data.
48% : Focusing on developments in Ukraine, von der Leyen emphasised that the EU 'will keep engaging with Beijing so that its support for Russia remains as limited as possible'.
46% : Regarding trade issues, the conclusions insist on a level playing-field for EU businesses.
44% : During the meeting, Dombrovskis reiterated the EU's serious concerns about the business environment for EU exporters and investors in China, and raised the issue of market access for European businesses.
44% : Formidable challenges in this area are China's strong opposition to the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism - as evidenced in the run-up to COP28 - and its much higher per capita emissions compared with the EU.
41% : The leaders confirmed that the EU wants to reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, in an effort to de-risk, but not decouple.
40% : In the years from 2018 to 2022, the EU's bilateral trade deficit with China rose from €154.7 billion to €396 billion, driven primarily by a strong rise in EU imports (+83 %) from China.
40% : Since 2022, China's ambiguous position on Russia's war on Ukraine, combined with a rising bilateral trade deficit, has led the EU to place more emphasis on China's role as competitor and systemic rival.
40% : Von der Leyen also emphasised that the EU wanted to de-risk and not to decouple, and alluded to possible EU-China cooperation on global challenges, referring in particular to the fight against climate change.
33% : Along similar lines, in an interview on 13 November, Michel named economic security and China-Russia relations as key issues for the EU.

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