The proposed meeting signals to Washington, days before Trump’s inauguration, that Brussels wants to keep its options open toward Beijing.
BRUSSELS — The European Union is considering holding a Brussels summit with China in May in a bid to soothe ties with Beijing early in Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president.
The news comes as António Costa, who took office in December as president of the European Council, held an introductory phone call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two agreed that “the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties could be a good opportunity for a successful EU-China Summit later in the year,” said an EU official, who was granted anonymity as they were not authorized to speak on the record.
Although the official stressed that no date had yet been set, China and the European Union established diplomatic relations on May 6, 1975, making early May a likely date for a summit.
Trump, who has threatened to impose a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese goods, is expected to further antagonize Beijing during his upcoming term and to push the EU to fully decouple its supply chains from China. Hinting at such a summit just days before Trump is inaugurated signals to Washington that the bloc wants to keep its options open toward Beijing.
Trade relations between Brussels and Beijing remain tense, however, with the European Commission ruling on Tuesday that China’s market access rules for medical devices are unfair to EU exporters. The decision followed a nine-month probe.
The last summit between the EU and China came at the end of 2023 in Beijing, just as trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels soared over a high-profile investigation into the subsidies enjoyed by Chinese electric vehicles. The Commission imposed duties of up to 35 percent on China-made EVs in October, and talks have so far failed to resolve the tariff fight.
In another indication that high-level contacts are intensifying, the EU’s recently appointed trade chief, Maroš Šefčovič, will meet China’s Ambassador to the EU Cai Run on Friday.