Description: EU’s Chief of Diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, met with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brussels as they discussed current rifts in trade relations, Chinese support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s rare earth minerals trade practices. President Trump’s tariff war has caused the bloc to reinstate trade relations with China and work towards tackling the introduction of Chinese companies on the EU market under the strict regulations imposed by the Union. Kallas stated that China needed to show healthy trading practices by reducing export taxes on rare earth elements to the EU as well as adapt their companies towards EU regulatory compliance. Foreign Minister Wang Yi emphasized the importance of fair-trading practices and criticized the unilateral market conditioning imposed by the US. The foreign leaders also discussed the situation in Iran, with Kallas calling the country to cease hostile activities, such as the suspension of cooperation with the IAEA and engage in diplomacy. The meeting was a starting point for the scheduled EU – China Summit set to be held in Beijing on 24 and 25 Jul, where EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
Impact: The trade triangle between Europe, China and the US, broadens its spectrum of influence, with China investing substantial diplomatic capital in an attempt to exploit the deteriorating relations between EU and the US. Trump’s tariffs have influenced the global market order towards adopting unilateral decisions regarding strategic partnerships which is personified through EU’s recent diplomatic activities with the Gulf States, the UK, Canada and now China. Despite the warming of bilateral relations, EU and China still have fundamental differences as trade partners and unconventional allies, which signals that crucial steps need to be reformulated in order for significant trade partnerships to be concluded in the future. The Summit at the end of Jul would most definitely be a groundbreaking point in future bilateral ties while its outcome may impact the ongoing trade negotiations which both EU and China have with the US.