Overview
- Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa met Xi Jinping at a shortened one-day summit in Beijing marking the 50th anniversary of EU–China diplomatic ties.
- EU leaders pressed for a reduction of a 357 billion dollar trade deficit, demanding greater market access for European firms and eased Chinese export curbs on rare earths.
- Just before the summit, the EU added two Chinese banks to its sanctions package on Russia, prompting Chinese protests and shaping discussions of Beijing’s relations with Moscow.
- António Costa publicly called on China to leverage its relationship with Russia to help end the war in Ukraine, with Brussels seeking concrete rather than rhetorical support.
- The summit ended without a joint declaration beyond a limited climate statement, highlighting Beijing’s reluctance to make immediate concessions on trade or security issues.