Europe To Hold Trade Talks With China Amid Simmering Tensions Over Russia-Ukraine War

The European Union and China will hold a high-level economic and trade dialogue on Tuesday amid the rising tensions in Europe and Asia triggered by many geopolitical events, including the Russia-Ukraine war. 

What Happened: The 9th EU-China high-level economic and trade dialogue will be co-chaired by Executive Vice President of the EU Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.

"I look forward to co-chairing this important event together with China Vice-Premier Liu He," Dombrovskis said in a Tweet on Monday.

This will also include representatives from both sides' trade and economics ministries.

See Also: Russian Envoy Says Kim Jong-Un Recognized 'Independence' Of Ukraine's Separatist Region Without 'Selfish Goals'

The leaders will discuss a number of global economic challenges during the meeting, including food security and energy prices, supply chains, financial services, and bilateral trade and investment concerns, SCMP reported.

The EU and China earlier in April held a virtual summit, which ended unsuccessfully after the bloc failed to gain any assurances from the Asian nation that it would not support Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine financially or militarily.

Now the EU and China have agreed to talk again "to find concrete ways to progress on these issues before the summer," a European Commission representative told the publication.

A Berlin-based analyst of Europe-China relations at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Noah Barkin, thinks Beijing is trying to adjust to its new relationship with Europe.

"The days of win-win EU-China meetings, where the differences are papered over, and half-baked agreements are held up as deliverables, are long gone. China is adjusting to a new reality in which the EU is raising all the contentious issues in the relationship every time they meet. It would prefer to avoid this," he said.

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