EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will hold talks with Chinese trade minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on June 29, a spokesman told AFP on Monday, as the bloc seeks to address trade frictions through dialogue.
“I can confirm that Commissioner Sefcovic will welcome Minister Wang to Brussels for meetings on Monday 29 June,” said EU trade spokesman Olof Gill.
The European Union in recent weeks has increased rhetoric on the need to address the 27-nation bloc’s trade imbalances with China.
The EU’s trade deficit in goods reached around 360 billion euros ($412 billion) last year, meaning the bloc imported far more from China than it exported there.
EU leaders last week agreed that Brussels should take a two-pronged approach.
They told the European Commission in charge of trade policy to engage Beijing in dialogue and at the same time develop strengthened tools to deal with rising Chinese exports.
The commission’s chief spokeswoman, Paula Pinho, said the EU was working on an instrument “whose aim would be to ensure solidarity within EU member states to counter trade imbalances and fair practices”, but would not give more details.
A European diplomat told AFP that all EU leaders except Spain’s Pedro Sanchez accepted the need for a tougher stance.
“Are we going to solve everything by talking to them?” asked the diplomat.
