What’s new: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that China is willing to hold this year’s China-EU summit “as soon as possible” with European leaders in a bid to expand bilateral cooperation.
During a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Xi said China is also ready to organize high-level dialogues in the fields of strategy, economy and trade, culture, digital and climate change, according to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry.
Macron and Merkel said that the two countries support the ratification of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), which Brussels and Beijing hammered out in December 2020. The European side delayed the ratification process of the agreement due to a rise in tensions between the EU and China earlier this year.
The background: The virtual meeting between the top leaders came as the China-EU relations deteriorated after the EU imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged forced labor issues in China’s northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region, which Beijing then responded by sanctioning European officials.
China and the EU have held the China-EU Leaders’ Summit annually since 1998. Last year, the summit was held in June via video link.
Contact reporter Cai Xuejiao (xuejiaocai@caixin.com) and editor Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com)
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