HONG KONG (AP) — China and the European Union will hold ministerial-level trade talks once or twice a year, China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday, as the two sides work to increase and rebalance trade. The EU faces growing pressure to reduce its trade deficit with China, which widened to about 360 billion euros ($410 billion) last year, nearly 1 billion euros a day. Chinese cars and batteries are among items increasingly exported to Europe. Under the newly agreed upon China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism, Beijing has also invited the EU’s trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, to visit China this autumn, ministry spokesperson He Yadong told reporters.He said the two sides intend to boost their collaboration in areas like artificial intelligence and the transition to renewable energy. Beijing’s remarks followed a meeting between Šefčovič and Wang Wentao, China’s commerce minister, on Monday in Brussels. Šefčovič said after the meeting he would be travelling to Beijing in the fall.
As the trade gap between China and the EU widens, Europe needs to “defend our industrial base and keep pushing for a level playing field globally,” Šefčovič said. He has set an October deadline for meaningful results on trade rebalancing.
