China hopes to promote more balanced trade with the 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.

), Thủ tướng Trung Quốc Lý Cường (phải) và Chủ tịch Ủy ban châu Âu Ursula von der Leyen trong cuộc gặp bên lề WEF Davos 2024 tại Davos, Thụy Sỹ, ngày 16/1. (Nguồn: Xinhua)

(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, on January 16. (Source: Xinhua)

On January 16, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced that China is ready to import more products from the European Union (EU) to meet 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, Prime Minister Li Qiang expressed hope that China and the EU would cooperate to promote a more balanced development trend in bilateral trade.

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

China-EU relations have recently been fraught with difficulties, leading to reciprocal sanctions. The latest EU investigation into the influx of inexpensive Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) into the bloc's market has sparked new tensions in trade relations between the two sides.

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

The 27-member bloc argues that this figure is partly due to Beijing's restrictions on European companies. These 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 shipped to Europe from the world's largest exporter has almost doubled from 2018 to 2022. In the first half of 2023, China remained the largest supplier of goods to the EU.

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