China hopes to promote more balanced trend in trade with EU

Economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU continues to expand, with Beijing remaining the largest supplier of goods to the 27-member bloc.

), Chinese Premier Li Qiang (right) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting on the sidelines of the WEF Davos 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, January 16. (Source: Xinhua)

On January 16, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang announced that the country is ready to import more products from the European Union (EU) in accordance with market demand.

The leader of the Northeast Asian nation hopes Brussels will ease export restrictions on high-tech products to the world's second-largest economy.

During a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF Davos 2024) in Davos, Switzerland, Premier Li Qiang expressed hope that China and the EU will cooperate to promote a more balanced development trend in bilateral trade.

Previously, at the High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue between the EU and China on September 25, 2023 in Beijing, the two sides agreed that strengthening bilateral dialogue is an important step to improve bilateral relations.

China-EU relations have recently been plagued by a number of issues that have led to reciprocal sanctions. The EU’s latest investigation into the influx of cheap Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) into the bloc’s market has sparked new tensions in trade relations between the two sides.

Although bilateral trade turnover reached a record in 2022 (over 923 billion USD), the highest level ever, the EU recorded a trade deficit of nearly 427 billion USD.

The 27-nation bloc says the figure is partly due to Beijing’s restrictions on European companies. Market access barriers have pushed the EU’s trade deficit with China to its highest level in history.

In fact, despite difficulties in political and diplomatic relations, economic and trade cooperation between the two sides continues to expand. The value of goods coming to Europe from the world's largest exporter nearly doubled from 2018 to 2022. In the first half of 2023, China remained the largest supplier of goods to the EU.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/wef-davos-2024-trung-quoc-hy-vong-thuc-day-xu-huong-can-bang-hon-trong-thuong-mai-voi-eu-257676.html