European Union leaders are planning to travel to Beijing for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in late July, according to five people familiar with the arrangement, the South China Morning Post reports. The plan suggests a second successive EU-China summit would be held in the Chinese capital, despite the fact that the location is supposed to rotate. However, with President Xi reluctant to travel to Brussels, it is understood that European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have accepted to go to Beijing if they want face time with the Chinese leader. No date has been confirmed with the Chinese side, but EU leaders’ willingness to make the trip indicates a serious effort to re-engage with Beijing at a time when the bloc’s relationship with the United States has effectively collapsed. Von der Leyen spoke with Chinese Premier Li Qiang last week, at the request of China’s No 2 official, while Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic spoke to Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
In a video call, Wang and Sefcovic agreed to “immediately start negotiations on electric vehicle price commitments, as well as discuss China-EU automotive industry investment cooperation”. During von der Leyen’s call with Li, the two agreed to monitor the effects from Trump’s sweeping global tariffs. In particular, the Europeans are worried that a flood of cut-price Chinese goods that were bound for the U.S. could be diverted to Europe and heap pressure on embattled local producers.
With both sides under severe economic pressure from the U.S., the EU has adopted a softer tone when speaking of China. The adjusted stance was palpable again in the Commission’s read-out of Von der Leyen's call with Li, making no mention of some traditional issues such as human rights. As 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, and President Xi had no plans to travel to Europe this year – except for a planned visit to Moscow in May – the EU agreed to have the summit in Beijing. A major topic will be China's perceived overcapacity. “This message on overcapacity was delivered before, but we felt it was not properly heard, they were not listening. Now, we have no other option but to take action, to use our tools to protect the EU market, at a time when they now need the EU market more,” said a senior European official.
French President Emmanuel Macron also plans to visit China in the second half of this year, according to several official sources.
