Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang will welcome European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel to Beijing on December 7 for a new China-European Union (EU) summit. In April 2022, the previous summit, held by videoconference, was described as a "dialogue of the deaf" by Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs.
Will it be the same this time? Despite the recent improvement in the climate between Beijing and Washington, the situation has actually deteriorated. The war in Ukraine continues, and, far from putting pressure on Moscow, China seems to be circumventing the sanctions. During a visit to Beijing on November 24, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna expressed concern at China's implicit support for arms deliveries from North Korea to Moscow. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's visit to Beijing on Monday, December 4, is not likely to reassure Europeans.
According to the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong daily newspaper, European leaders could give Xi a list of 13 Chinese companies not complying with Western sanctions. If Beijing does nothing, these companies could be added to the list of European sanctions against entities aiding Moscow.
In 2019, the EU described China as a "partner, competitor and systemic rival." It is this last point that is likely to dominate the debate.
China denounces 'green protectionism'
Despite all of this, China has recently made some gestures toward the EU. As of December 1, Germans, French, Dutch, Italians and Spaniards no longer need a visa to visit China for up to 15 days. These five countries are the ones with which Beijing has the most commercial ties in Europe. Furthermore, according to the Lithuanian authorities, China lifted the sanctions imposed on Vilnius in November 2021 following the Baltic country's rapprochement with Taiwan. For its part, ByteDance, the parent company of Chinese social media platform TikTok, announced on Friday, December 1, that it would be investing €12 billion in Europe (Ireland and Norway) over the next decade to store the data of its European customers there, in response to EU concerns about data transfers.
At the summit, Beijing is expected to focus on economic relations. After denouncing "de-risking," a concept presented by Von der Leyen in March that Beijing likens to the American "decoupling," the Chinese authorities are denouncing Europe's "green protectionism." The most obvious symbol in their eyes: Brussels' opening of an investigation into Chinese electric vehicles accused of being competitive thanks to competition-distorting subsidies.
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