European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic said Friday that recent trade talks between China and the European Union (EU) in Beijing were conducted in good faith after an unusually intense period of engagement, pushing back against the notion of an emerging "trade war."
China and the EU agreed on a 16-point list of common understandings following the second meeting of the bilateral trade and investment consultation mechanism, held in Beijing on Thursday and Friday, according to a joint statement issued on Friday.
The outcomes cover trade and investment balance, export controls, intellectual property rights and World Trade Organization reform, the statement said. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Sefcovic held "pragmatic and productive" discussions over the two days, the statement said.
Briefing media on the results at a press conference in Beijing on Friday, Sefcovic rejected the "trade war" label that has increasingly been applied to the China-EU tensions.
"First and foremost, we have never spoken about the 'trade wars'. And you probably heard me saying that I'm one of those who knows that sometimes it's very easy to declare a trade war, or any war, but it's very difficult to stop it. So therefore, I put so much emphasis on negotiations," he said.
The commissioner described the pace of contacts with Chinese officials over the past three to four months as unprecedented in his experience, crediting the results to close coordination between trade negotiators from both sides.
"I have to say that we never had the level of intensity of our exchanges and contacts as we have over the last three, four months with our Chinese counterparts. So, together, Minister Wang Wentao, and myself, our chief negotiators of directors general, Vice Minister Ling Ji, and the whole thing has been working very, very hard to accomplish these results. So, I want to say that this was done in good faith, and this is the result of very intense work and it reflects also the appreciation of the situation on both sides," Sefcovic said.
The China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism was established in June as a regular channel for addressing trade and investment issues.
EU commissioner hails productive trade talks with China, dismisses 'trade war' rhetoric
