The EU’s trade chief has set an October deadline to resolve a shopping list of trade disputes between Brussels and Beijing following talks with China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao on Monday (29 June).
The meeting was billed as the first of a planned series of trade and investment consultations between the EU and China and would seek to “stabilise and make our bilateral relationship more balanced”, Maros Sefcovic and Wentao said in a joint statement.
They also agreed to establish four “workstreams” on trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights and WTO reform.
Ahead of the talks, China had warned that it was prepared to suspend economic and trade relations with the EU if negotiations continue without tangible results, according to China’s state broadcaster.
And the need for “tangible results” was repeated by Sefcovic who said that the meeting had been needed to “avoid unnecessary tensions”.
