EU-China Summit opens as trade tensions rise due to COVID-19

China and The European Union (EU) held the 22^nd bilateral Summit via virtual conference on Monday (Jun 22).

According to the details, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and President of the European Council, Charles Michel attended the videoconference. The conference was also accompanied by High Representative Josep Borrell, hold the Summit meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang followed by exchanges with the Chinese President.

“EU-China relations have evolved in recent years. Our economic interdependency is high, and we must work together on global challenges like climate action, meeting the Sustainable Development Goals or dealing with COVID-19. Engaging and cooperating with China is both an opportunity and necessity. But, at the same time, we have to recognise that we do not share the same values, political systems, or approach to multilateralism. We will engage in a clear-eyed and confident way, robustly defending EU interests and standing firm on our values,” President Michel said.

The official tweet of EU said, “The coronavirus pandemic and a number of major bilateral and multilateral challenges show clearly the #EUChina partnership is crucial, be it in terms of trade, climate, technology, and the defence of multilateralism.”

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The coronavirus pandemic and a number of major bilateral and multilateral challenges show clearly the #EUChina partnership is crucial, be it in terms of trade, climate, technology, and the defence of multilateralism.

More about today's 🇪🇺🇨🇳 summit: https://t.co/Eckw7wMiku pic.twitter.com/KLvRmzl0hO

— European Commission 🇪🇺 #UnitedAgainstCoronavirus (@EU_Commission) June 22, 2020

The sources said that the EU-China summit had a comprehensive agenda addressing bilateral relations; regional and global issues, and the coronavirus epidemic and trade recovery.

President von der Leyen wrote on Twitter, “Today’s #EUChina summit is a much-needed opportunity to move forward on all aspects of our cooperation. We’ll discuss wide-ranging topics, from trade to climate action, from sustainable development to human rights, from digitalisation and foreign policy to #coronavirus response.

Today’s #EUChina summit is a much-needed opportunity to move forward on all aspects of our cooperation. We’ll discuss wide-ranging topics, from trade to climate action, from sustainable development to human rights, from digitalisation and foreign policy to #coronavirus response.

— Ursula von der Leyen #UnitedAgainstCoronavirus (@vonderleyen) June 22, 2020