Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd-L) speaks with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Antonio Costa and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, during the opening remarks of the 25th European Union – China Summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 24, 2025.
Andres Martinez Casares | Afp | Getty Images
As Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to deepen ties with the European Union, the bloc’s top official raised concerns over a growing trade imbalance, underscoring the strains beneath the diplomatic niceties.
Chinese and EU leaders held a meeting Thursday as the 25th EU-China summit got underway.
Xi described the bilateral relationship as “mutually beneficial,” saying the ties have become all the more crucial as geopolitical tensions mount globally. “The more severe and complex the international situation is, the more China and the EU should strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation,” Xi told the EU leaders, according to a translation by CNBC.
European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, however, struck a firmer tone, urging the Chinese leader to address the rising trade imbalance between the two major economies.
“We have reached an inflection point. Rebalancing our bilateral relation is essential,” she said, according to the official readout, stressing that both sides needed to “acknowledge respective concerns and come forward with real solutions.”
Trade tensions globally have taken centerstage this year, with the EU-China relations strained by Beijing’s export of excess industrial supply amid weakening domestic demand.
The bloc, which China counts as its second-largest trading partner, raised tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles last year in an effort to protect its domestic industry, drawing Beijing to launch anti-dumping probes into European brandy, dairy and pork.
“What we have seen is a reiteration of both sides’ respective positions,” said Daniel Balazs, a research fellow at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, highlighting the underlying differences in the two sides’ objectives.
The EU wants “more balanced economic ties” and for China to do more in bringing Russia to the negotiating table over the Ukraine conflict, but Beijing seeks to reverse the EU’s restrictions on Chinese firms and duties on its electric vehicles.
Earlier this month, Von der Leyen said that China was “enabling Russia’s war economy.”
In the first half of this year, China had a goods-trade surplus of nearly $143 billion with the European Union, 21% higher than a year earlier, according to official customs data.