EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic will hold talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on June 29, a spokesman told AFP on Monday, as the bloc seeks to address trade frictions through dialogue.
“I can confirm that Commissioner Sefcovic will welcome Minister Wang in Brussels for meetings on Monday 29 June,” EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said.
The European Union has in recent weeks ramped up the rhetoric on the need to address the 27-country bloc’s trade imbalances with China.
The EU’s trade deficit in goods hit around 360 billion euros (US$412 billion) last year, meaning the bloc imported way more from China than it exported there.
EU leaders last week agreed Brussels should take on a two-pronged approach.
They told the European Commission in charge of trade policy, to engage Beijing in dialogue and at the same time develop beefed-up tools to tackle the surge of Chinese exports.
The commission’s chief spokeswoman, Paula Pinho, said the EU was working on an instrument whose “aim would be to provide solidarity within the EU member states to counter trade imbalances and fair practices”, but would not give more details.
A European diplomat told AFP that all EU leaders with the notable exception of Spain’s Pedro Sanchez accepted the need for a tougher stance.
“Are we going to solve everything by talking to them?” the diplomat asked.
