The European Union’s top diplomat will head to Beijing next week for meetings with Chinese officials, a trip that comes as Europe tries to figure out how to manage economic rivalry with China.
Josep Borrell will arrive in Beijing on Monday and meet Foreign Minister Qin Gang and other senior figures, according to the EU’s ambassador to Beijing, Jorge Toledo.
Toledo told the World Peace Forum in Beijing on Sunday that Brussels would continue to raise “strategic issues” with China, including human rights practices and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The two sides would continue dialogue on economic and trade issues, likely in September, and could hold a leaders’ summit at the end of the year, he added.
“We want to engage with China in all issues, in our partnership, in our competition and in our systemic rivalry,” Toledo said.
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Borrell’s trip comes as Beijing tries to persuade Europe to take a less hawkish stance than the US, which has imposed a raft of export controls on China to curb its access to advanced technology. Beijing escalated that dispute on Monday by imposing restrictions on exporting two metals that are crucial to parts of the semiconductor, telecoms and electric-vehicle industries.
Borrell’s trip will follow one by EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, who is meeting this week with Chinese officials on climate, biodiversity and environmental protection issues. The pair postponed a visit to China earlier this year because they tested positive for Covid-19.
