Newly assertive EU faces resistant China at summit
Bloc will insist European firms in China should enjoy the same rights as Chinese firms in Europe
Brussels — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and EU institution leaders met in Brussels on Tuesday for an annual EU-China summit that the EU has seized on to pressure Beijing over trade and investment. After years of offering free access to its markets, the EU is losing patience with the slow pace of Beijing’s own market liberalisation. It is also growing concerned over state-led Chinese companies’ dominance of some EU markets and acquisitions of strategic industries. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the summit “would not be simple”. “We will explain that in Europe we are insisting that European firms in China should enjoy the same rights as Chinese firms in Europe,” he said before the meeting.
The EU’s newly assertive stance has made it difficult to agree a final summit declaration, a staple of such high-level gatherings, which the EU sees as a way of setting down in writing Chinese promises to open up to European investors. EU and Chinese negotiators agreed ...
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