Chinese Premier Li Qiang and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a telephone conversation on April 8, focusing on strengthening China-EU relations. Li expressed China’s willingness to work with the EU to continuously improve bilateral relations and called for early high-level dialogues in strategic, economic, green, and digital sectors.
Li noted that China-EU relations are showing positive momentum. As 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, their relationship faces significant opportunities for development. President Xi Jinping’s earlier conversation with EU Council President Costa set the tone for deepening China-EU relations. China and the EU remain each other’s most important trading partners with highly complementary economies and closely intertwined interests.
The Premier criticized recent U.S. tariff increases on global trading partners, including China and the EU, describing them as “unilateral, protectionist, and economic bullying.” He emphasized that China’s responsive measures aim to protect not only its own interests but also international trade rules and global fairness. As advocates for economic globalization and trade liberalization, China and the EU should strengthen communication, expand mutual openness, and jointly maintain free and open trade.
Li assured that China has prepared sufficient policy tools to counter external challenges and expressed confidence in maintaining healthy economic development. He reaffirmed China’s commitment to further opening up and sharing development opportunities with the EU and other countries.
Von der Leyen stressed the importance of maintaining stability in EU-China relations and expressed interest in holding a new EU-China leaders’ meeting to celebrate their 50th diplomatic anniversary. She agreed that U.S. tariffs seriously impact international trade and affirmed the EU’s commitment to working with China to uphold the multilateral trading system.
Source: Sputnik News, April 9, 2025
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