Optimism meets lingering uncertainties on upcoming China-EU Summit

Both China and the European Union (EU) have released positive signals, but with uncertainties remaining, prior to the upcoming visit by a delegation of the European Union (EU) leadership to China, which comes at a time when the two sides mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

As agreed between China and the EU, 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, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

According to the ministry, Premier Li Qiang and the two EU leaders will jointly chair the 25th China-EU Summit in Beijing on Thursday.

On July 16, the Chinese side and the European Parliament announced simultaneous lifting of all restrictions on mutual exchange between them.

"In the current circumstances, both sides believe that it is crucial for China and the EU to enhance dialogue and cooperation. As agreed between the two sides, the Chinese side and the European Parliament have decided to simultaneously lift all restrictions on mutual exchanges," said Lin Jian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a regular press briefing.

On July 14, China released trade data, stressing the nature of economic complementarity between China and the EU.

"Over the past 50 years, economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU has led to mutual complementation of each other's advantages, with the bilateral trade volume increasing more than 300-fold," said Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China.

China endorsed the good will in this speech, while also pointing out some of the accusations are based on double standards.

"Historically, the EU has been a major provider of subsidies, with those for aircraft, agriculture, and other sectors all having been ruled as violations by the WTO. In recent years, rather than correcting these erroneous practices, the EU has redoubled its efforts to intensify its subsidy programs," said He Yongqian, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce. Wang Yiwei, a professor of the Renmin University of China, suggests Beijing and Brussels should view their partnership in the wider global frame.

"We should view our relationships more comprehensively, not just focus on the imbalance in goods, and that Europe imports more from China. But if you calculate [the trade in] services, [you will see that] China actually imports more from Europe. So that's huge potential for the service trade, IPR (intellectual property rights), more on that ground," he said.

China, EU release positive signals ahead of upcoming summit

China, EU release positive signals ahead of upcoming summit

Optimism meets lingering uncertainties on upcoming China-EU Summit

China, EU release positive signals ahead of upcoming summit

China, EU release positive signals ahead of upcoming summit

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.

China's aggregate social financing maintains high growth in 2025