Top EU officials Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa are in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a meeting marking 50 years of diplomatic ties between the EU and China but shadowed by rising geopolitical tension.
Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and Costa, who chairs the European Council, are set to attend the 25th EU–China summit on Thursday. But until very recently, it wasn’t even clear if Xi would meet them. China had earlier declined a Brussels invite for a two-day event, reportedly skipping due to souring relations with the EU, according to The Financial Times.
Only this week did Beijing’s Foreign Ministry confirm that the summit is actually on, and that Xi will join Costa, von der Leyen, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang in person.
For China, this is more than a photo op. Beijing is trying to reframe ties with Europe as pragmatic and forward-looking.
China’s state media have also been busy publishing glowing articles about the EU-China relationship, signaling that Beijing wants to soften the vibe ahead of the summit. It’s a well-known tactic: signal flexibility through the press without having to officially say too much.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun struck a hopeful note ahead of the summit, calling the EU–China bond “one of the most influential bilateral relationships in the world.”
At a briefing on Tuesday, Guo said the two sides were at a “critical juncture” and urged them to “build on past achievements” while navigating new challenges. Among those? An increasingly shaky global environment and growing protectionist instincts on both sides of the aisle.
With input from Al Jazeera
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