The inaugural face-to-face meeting between the world’s primary forces and markets post the COVID-19 pandemic, known as the 24th China-European Union (EU) Summit, convened in Beijing on Thursday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in discussions with President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, emphasized the pivotal role of China-EU relations in maintaining global stability and peace amid a turbulent international landscape. Xi called for enhanced cooperation and the resolution of differences through dialogue.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, this year has seen frequent high-level exchanges between China and the EU. Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Germany and France in June and the 12th round of the China-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue in October exemplify this trend.
During the summit, Xi urged both parties to uphold the characterization of their relationship as a comprehensive strategic partnership. He emphasized the need for leveraging the guiding role of the China-EU Summit and five high-level dialogues, enhancing strategic communication, fostering understanding, and managing differences through constructive dialogue.
Xi underscored that differing systems should not lead to rivalry, competition should not impede cooperation, and disagreements should not result in confrontation. Echoing Xi, Michel and von der Leyen expressed the EU’s desire not to decouple from China, seeking a long-term, stable, predictable, and sustainable relationship.
Established in 1998, the China-EU Summit serves as an annual mechanism for enhancing dialogue and cooperation in politics, economy, culture, and society. This year’s summit aimed to reenergize relations between the two sides.
Xi highlighted China’s pursuit of high-quality development and high-standard opening up, presenting the EU as a key partner in economic and trade, scientific and technological cooperation, and industrial and supply chain collaboration. China and the EU remain each other’s second-largest trading partners, with two-way trade exceeding $847.3 billion in 2022.
Xi also expressed China’s willingness to strengthen cooperation with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the EU’s Global Gateway. The China-Europe Railway Express, a flagship BRI enterprise, has serviced 217 cities in 25 European countries with over 81,000 China-Europe freight train trips by November.
Michel and von der Leyen viewed the sustained growth of the Chinese economy as in Europe’s interest, hoping for strengthened dialogue and cooperation in economic and trade, green and digital fields, and the stability of supply and industrial chains.
Xi emphasized that Chinese modernization and European integration are strategic choices made with the future in mind. He called for mutual respect, support, and leveraging the complementarity of development strategies for common progress.