Europe takes China seriously, expects same from Beijing, says EU foreign policy chief

ANKARA

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday said that Europe takes China seriously and expects the same in return.

Speaking at Peking University Beijing, Borrell said he arrived for the strategic dialogue, which he hoped would help pave the ground for the European Union-China Summit.

Borrell, who arrived in China on a three-day visit on Thursday at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi to attend the 12th round of China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue in Beijing, added that the EU needs to work with China just as Beijing needs to work with them.

"The EU-China relations are no exception to this trend, which I would call ‘conflictual interdependence’," he said and added the EU is a powerful trading power and China needs it.

"Our trade deficit has gone up by 60% in one year: a considerable rise, which cannot simply reflect a productivity gap between our economies," said Borrell.

The EU foreign policy chief said the EU investment in China has seen a sharp downturn because of trade issues, adding that the EU is going toward elections next year and these topics will come under discussion.

"It is therefore in our interest to find common ground, to redress the imbalance in our economic and trade relations," he said.

In 2022, China was the EU's second-largest trading partner after the US.

According to Eurostat data, the trade volume last year between the EU and China reached €856.3 billion ($938 billion), accounting for about 15.3% of the EU's total trade for that year.