Economic and trade cooperation is an important component of China-EU relations, serving as both a ‘ballast stone’ and a ‘booster’ for the development of bilateral ties.
Through the joint efforts of both sides, China-EU economic and trade cooperation has delivered fruitful outcomes, benefiting not only the peoples of both sides but also the world at large. According to Chinese statistics, China-EU trade reached $828.1bn (€707bn) in 2025. Today, the trade volume between China and the EU in a single day is roughly equivalent to the total trade volume of an entire year during our early period of diplomatic relations.
These achievements in cooperation have not come easily and should be all the more cherished.
At the same time, we are fully aware of the EU side’s strong concerns regarding the trade imbalance between the two sides. In this regard, I would like to share several observations for exchange with you, in the hope that they may help enhance understanding among friends from various sectors on this issue, so that we can jointly address the differences and frictions through dialogue and consultation, and jointly promote deeper and more substantive economic and trade cooperation.
The Chinese side has never deliberately pursued a trade surplus. China takes a positive and open attitude toward addressing the trade imbalance issue and has adopted a series of concrete measures to this end.
