China tries to reassure European Union on trade amid discontent over US deal
- Top diplomat Yang Jiechi says Beijing will work with bloc to ensure success of key goals as countdown begins in earnest to summit in September
- On sidelines of Libya conference in Germany, Yang says China is willing to work with international community on restoring peace to country divided by years of civil war
Yang spoke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and new European Council President Charles Michel on the sidelines of a conference in Berlin on Sunday, when leaders gathered to discuss the civil war in Libya.
The discussions also touched on trade, with a major EU-China investment agreement in negotiation, and signs of discontent from Europe over the phase one US-China trade deal that was completed on Wednesday.
In the agreement, signed by US President Donald Trump and China’s chief negotiator Liu He in Washington, Beijing agreed to buy US$200 billion more US goods and services over the next two years above the baseline US$188 billion in 2017, before the trade war began.
On Thursday, EU Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan called the details of the deal “a bit sketchy”, and said it “is not going to be good for competitiveness or jobs”.
In his meeting with Michel, who took office in December, Yang said China was willing to work with the EU to “ensure the success of a series of important EU-China agenda items this year”, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
