This week, European leaders will meet with their Japanese and Chinese counterparts. However, the EU currently has low expectations for the meeting with Chinese representatives, UNN reports, citing Bloomberg.
Details
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will visit Asia this week, first meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday in Tokyo, and then with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday in Beijing.
Specifically, in Japan, EU leaders plan to sign agreements on cooperation in the defense industry and economic security. This was stated by European officials on condition of anonymity. However, no joint statement is expected from the summit in Beijing, officials said.
The European delegation does not expect any significant agreements from the Chinese meeting, seeking only a "substantive, open, direct, good and constructive conversation." Europe hopes to make it clear what it wants Beijing to do to rectify unstable economic relations and rebalance ties
At the same time, Brussels has not yet decided whether it is ready to make concessions to China as part of a broader EU proposal to avoid Donald Trump imposing large-scale tariffs on European exports. This is reported by euractiv.com.
Recall
US President Donald Trump may meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC event in South Korea. This event will take place amid attempts by Washington and Beijing to agree on an end to the trade war.