The upcoming 25th China-EU Summit is a positive sign as the two sides will engage at the highest level, said the European Union Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
As agreed between China and the European Union, President of the European Council Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will visit China on Thursday. Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with them, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Monday.
The spokesperson said that Chinese Premier Li Qiang and the two EU leaders will jointly chair the 25th China-EU Summit.
The European Union Chamber of Commerce expressed its expectations for the summit in a statement.
"It is positive that the EU and China are going to meet at the highest level. Despite the number of current challenges to the relationship, it shows pragmatism to maintain such engagements as it keeps the door open to future dialogues, including at the working level during which more concrete progress may be made on more specific challenges," the EU Chamber of Commerce in China said in the statement.
The EU Chamber of Commerce in China anticipates that the EU side will raise a number of important issues, including the need to address the current trade imbalance, and to remove market access and regulatory barriers facing European firms operating in China, the statement said.
"In terms of possible outcomes, the Chamber expects to see formal acknowledgment of the areas where cooperation is still possible and necessary, including the need to accelerate and deepen collaboration on the green transition and tackling climate change," the statement said.
EU Chamber of Commerce in China on expectations for China-EU Summit
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.
Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.
Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.
"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.
The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.
Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar
