Brussels, Belgium
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will head to China next week after his visit had been postponed twice this year, an EU official said Friday.
Borrell first pushed back the trip in April after testing positive for coronavirus and was then expected to go in July before China abruptly called off the visit.
The European Union’s top diplomat will be in China from October 12 to 14, the official said.
He will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi “to discuss bilateral relations as well as foreign policy and security issues”, the EU official added.
Brussels is pushing for an approach with Beijing that balances its concerns over relying too much on China while also maintaining ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has defined the position as “de-risking rather than decoupling” from China.
The approach will likely be at the heart of Borrell’s discussions with Chinese officials after the EU has taken a series of steps that have irked China.
Brussels began a probe into Chinese electric car subsidies after von der Leyen claimed in September that “their price is kept artificially low”.
Beijing hit back at the investigation, warning it would damage EU-China trade relations.
The EU also named sensitive technologies that it must defend from rivals, including artificial intelligence, Tuesday. While Brussels has not named China, the target is clear.
“Economic security is not just a technological issue, discussing which technologies are a risk, which dependencies have to be controlled or cancelled, but it will affect fully our foreign policy,” Borrell said in July.
Another subject that will likely be discussed is the war in Ukraine. While China has sought to position itself as a neutral party, the EU has been critical of its stance.
The bloc’s trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said Beijing’s position was affecting the country’s image during his visit to China last month.
