President Xi Jinping To Meet European Union Officials

Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit (PHOTO VIA ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the 24th China-EU Summit in Beijing.

"China attaches great importance to the summit. Leaders will exchange in-depth views on strategic issues that are important for the direction of relations between China and the European Union (EU)," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin delivered a regular statement to the media in Beijing, China., Monday, December 4th.

According to the plan, Prime Minister Li Qiang, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will jointly chair the summit of the China-EU summit which will be held on December 7, 2023, which also coincides with the 20th anniversary of China-EU's comprehensive strategic partnership.

"Discussions also contain global issues that are of common interest to both parties to produce blueprints, identify focus and provide encouragement for China-EU relations," added Wang Wenbin.

Wang Wenbin admits China-EU relations face new opportunities and challenges.

"China and EU are partners, not rivals, and our common interests far outweigh differences. China hopes this summit will play an important role in increasing mutual understanding and trust through communication, increasing mutually beneficial cooperation and discussing solutions through dialogue and consultation," said Wang Wenbin.

The China-EU summit was held after in September 2023 Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU was conducting an investigation into the alleged Chinese government subsidy towards its fast-growing electric vehicle industry. He said Chinese electric cars were sold at low prices in EU countries and this was possible because of subsidies from the government.

European leaders said subsidies resulted in unfair competition in the European automotive market. However, China criticized the investigation and warned the move would undermine trade relations with the EU.

In addition, China has also brought up plans to investigate the EU on China's subsidies over the steel industry. Beijing said the investigation would disrupt supply chains and provide slaps to international trade.

Beijing also objected to the EU's plan to implement a Carbon Restriction Adjustment Mechanism that would set a 20-35 percent tariff on goods at high carbon prices, such as steel and iron ore.

The EU has applied additional tariffs to China's 20 types of steel and stainless steel products and designated the import quota as a step to protect its market until mid-2024.

The world's automotive industry dominance, especially for electric cars, is currently dominated by China, after decades of the world's automotive industry dominated by European manufacturers, Japan, and the United States.

China said it had exported more than half a million electric cars in the world in the first half of 2023. This figure is equivalent to 160 percent growth compared to the same period last year.

One of the advantages of Chinese manufacturers that have not been matched by producers of other countries is cheap production costs. This is also a problem for the European Union. Currently, as many as 26 Chinese electric car manufacturers have planned to enter the German market by 2025,

China is also the main producer of lithium-ion batteries which are one of the main components of electric vehicles. The world's largest battery manufacturers all come from China.