Why the European Union-China summit is bound to disappoint

Bruegel Senior Fellow Alicia García-Herrero lays out the main reasons for why the EU-China summit is bound to disappoint Europeans who hope that it will help improving the trade relations between the two actors. Among these reasons are (1) the decision for the EU to file an anti-subsidy investigation with the World Trade Organisation against EVs produced in China and exported to the EU, (2) the underwhelming performance of the Chinese economy, and (3) the fact that China interpreted the 15 November Biden-Xi summit as a success in stabilising relations with the US.

None of these factors are providing China with incentives to engage in positive dialogue with EU on rebalancing the trade relations that have increasingly turned in China’s favor.