Current:Home > ScamsEU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them-InfoLens
EU commissioner calls for more balanced trade with China and warns that Ukraine could divide them
View Date:2024-12-23 19:28:58
BEIJING (AP) — The European Union’s trade commissioner called for a more balanced economic relationship with China on Monday, noting a trade imbalance of nearly 400 billion euros ($425 billion), while also warning that China’s position on the war in Ukraine could endanger its relationship with Europe.
Valdis Dombrovskis, in a speech at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University, said that the EU and China face significant political and economic headwinds that could cause them to drift apart.
“The strongest, yet not the only, headwind is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and how China positions itself on this issue,” he said, according to a prepared text of his remarks.
Dombrovskis is in China to co-chair high-level economic and trade talks on Monday with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. EU leaders have expressed concern about the bloc’s growing trade deficit with China, which reached 396 billion euros last year. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently announced an investigation into Chinese subsidies to electric vehicle makers, saying a flood of cheaper Chinese cars is distorting the European market.
The Chinese government has called the investigation a protectionist act aimed at distorting the supply chain. Dombrovskis, in his Tsinghua address, said it would follow well-established rules and be done in consultation with Chinese authorities and stakeholders.
The EU trade commissioner urged China to address the lack of reciprocity in the economic relationship, saying “the figures speak for themselves.”
He said that China has created a more politicized business environment to protect its national security and development interests, resulting in less transparency, unequal access to procurement, and discriminatory standards and security requirements.
Dombrovskis cited as examples a new foreign relations law and an updated anti-espionage law that has European companies struggling to understand their compliance obligations.
“Their ambiguity allows too much room for interpretation,” he said about the laws, adding they deter new investment in China.
Chinese officials have been trying to lure back foreign investment to help the economy emerge from a sluggishness that has persisted despite the lifting of pandemic restrictions last December.
The Chinese government has tried to remain neutral in the war in Ukraine rather than joining the United States and much of Europe in condemning the Russian invasion. Dombrovskis, who is Latvian, noted that territorial integrity has always been a key principle for China in international diplomacy.
“Russia’s war is a blatant breach of this principle,” he said, according to his prepared remarks. “So it’s very difficult for us to understand China’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, as it breaches China’s own fundamental principles.”
veryGood! (39859)
Related
- Statue of the late US Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, is unveiled in his native Alabama
- Top Celebrity Halloween Costume of 2024 Revealed
- Oregon's Traeshon Holden ejected for spitting in Ohio State player's face
- Colorado officer who killed Black man holding cellphone mistaken for gun won’t be prosecuted
- Florida State can't afford to fire Mike Norvell -- and can't afford to keep him
- Why Hurricanes Are Much—Much—Deadlier Than Official Death Counts Suggest
- Colorado officer who killed Black man holding cellphone mistaken for gun won’t be prosecuted
- Meet the California family whose house becomes a magical pumpkin palooza
- Quincy Jones laid to rest at private family funeral in Los Angeles
- Boeing will lay off 10% of its employees as a strike by factory workers cripples airplane production
Ranking
- Lou Donaldson, jazz saxophonist who blended many influences, dead at 98
- Hot-air balloon strikes and collapses radio tower in Albuquerque during festival
- NY prosecutors want to combine Harvey Weinstein’s criminal cases into a single trial
- Wisconsin regulators file complaint against judge who left court to arrest a hospitalized defendant
- Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
- Colorado officer who killed Black man holding cellphone mistaken for gun won’t be prosecuted
- IRS extends Oct. 15 tax deadline for states hit by hurricanes, severe weather
- Should California’s minimum wage be $18? Voters will soon decide
Recommendation
-
Mattel says it ‘deeply’ regrets misprint on ‘Wicked’ dolls packaging that links to porn site
-
Woman pleads guilty to trying to smuggle 29 turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak
-
Golden Bachelorette's Guy Gansert Addresses Ex's Past Restraining Order Filing
-
Watch: Rick Pitino returns to 'Camelot' for Kentucky Big Blue Madness event
-
Pitchfork Music Festival to find new home after ending 19-year run in Chicago
-
Audit of Arkansas governor’s security, travel records from State Police says no laws broken
-
Alabama corrections officer charged with smuggling meth into prison
-
Why Anna Kendrick Is Calling on Rebel Wilson to Get Another Pitch Perfect Movie Rolling