China and the European Union issued a joint call for action on climate change during their Beijing summit today, which was marked by disagreements about trade issues and the war in Ukraine.
The statement on climate change urged greater emission cuts, more reliance on green technology and affirmed their support for the Paris Climate Agreement. It called for strong action at the upcoming COP30 climate summit in Brazil.
Given the prevailing “fluid and turbulent international situation”, all countries, the major economies especially, should “maintain policy continuity and stability and step up efforts to address climate change,” the statement said.
The agreement on climate offered a moment of alignment on a day when EU leadership efforts to achieve a more balanced relationship with China proved less successful.
“As our cooperation has deepened, so have the imbalances,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen complained, pointing out that in order “to be sustainable, relations need to be mutually beneficial.”
Originally scheduled for two days, the talks were cut back to one, reflecting low expectations on the part of the participants amidst global financial uncertainty, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and the U.S. tariff threat.
European Council President António Costa urged China to use its influence over Russia to help bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.
President Xi Jinping suggested the two should set aside their differences and seek “common ground” to help ensure stability in an increasingly complex world. China, he said, was willing to step up efforts to tackle climate change. However, he pushed back against EU restrictions on Chinese exports, calling on the EU to “keep its trade and investment markets open, refrain from using restrictive economic and trade tools and provide good business environment for Chinese companies to invest and develop in Europe”, according to an online readout posted by China’s state broadcaster CCTV.
Von der Leyen and Costa were expected to raise concerns about Chinese cyberattacks and espionage, its restrictions on the export of rare earth minerals and its human rights record in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
“Europe is being very careful not to antagonise President Trump even further by looking maybe too close to China, so all of that doesn’t make this summit easier,” Fabian Zuleeg, chief economist of the European Policy Centre, noted.
Having managed to weather the U.S. tariffs storm because of its aggressive posture, “China sees less of a need to woo Europe”, according to Noah Barkin, an analyst at the Rhodium Group think tank.
Like the U.S., the 27-nation EU has a huge trade deficit with China — some 300 billion euros in 2024. Moreover, the EU remains heavily dependent on China for critical minerals and the magnets made from them for car and appliance manufactures exports of which China has curtailed in response to Trump administration tariffs.
Beijing would like to see the EU revoke the tariffs it imposed on Chinese electric vehicles to support the bloc’s carmakers and offset the heavy subsidies China makes available to its auto manufacturers.
The EU car industry is alarmed by the rapid growth of China’s market share in Europe, fearing it could eventually threaten the EU’s ability to produce its own green technology to combat climate change. Businesses and unions alike feel that 2.5 million auto industry jobs could be at risk along with the livelihoods of 10.3 million others whose employment depends indirectly on EV production.
China, meanwhile has criticised new EU regulations on medical equipment sales and is concerned about pending legislation that could further target Chinese industries, according to Alicia García-Herrero, a China analyst at the Bruegel think tank.
“The EU remains China’s largest export market, so China has every intention to keep it this way, especially given the pressure coming from the U.S.,” she said.
China also objects to EU sanctions over Russia’s war against Ukraine, the latest of which target two Chinese banks the EU claims have links to Russia’s war industry.
China’s Commerce Ministry has protested the listing, promising to respond with “necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and financial institutions.”
