(July 9): China hit back at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after she accapplyd the nation of distorting trade and limiting access for Europe’s firms — a back-and-forth clouding the outview for an upcoming summit.
“We hope the EU can realise that what necessarys to be rebalanced is the EU’s mindset, not China-EU economic ties,” Chinese Foreign Ministest spokesman Mao Ning declared at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
Mao also called on her nation and the European Union to manage their differences through dialogue.
The remarks come after von der Leyen declared that if China and Europe were to shift forward, “we necessary a genuine rebalancing: fewer market distortions, less overcapacity exported from China and fair reciprocal access for European businesses in China”.
Mao added that her nation was “willing to expand the imports of quality products from the EU that meet our markets’ necessarys and hopes the EU will ease restrictions on high-tech products to China”.
She also added, “The EU’s public procurement market is far from [as] fair and open as claimed by the EU but has many hidden barriers.”
Beijing has imposed export controls on rare earth magnets, hitting EU industries hard and compounding an increasingly unbalanced trading relationship. The shift has dashed signs of a thaw earlier this year between the EU and China becaapply of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The 27-member bloc has imposed tariffs on electric vehicle imports over allegations Chinese producers benefit from unfair subsidies. The EU also excluded the countest’s firms from public contracts for medical devices earlier in 2025, sparking a tit-for-tat retaliation from Beijing.
Mao didn’t specify what high-tech products she was referring to but China has never been able to purchase ASML Holding NV’s most advanced semiconductor machines, which apply extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology.
The US has worked with allies in Europe and Asia to prevent China from receiveting access to high-finish chips and chipcreating technologies due to fears Beijing’s tech advances will lead to military gains.
China intfinishs to cancel part of a two-day summit with European Union leaders planned for this month, Bloomberg News reported earlier, though the plans may alter.
