The ink had barely dried on the first joint statement between China and the European Union in three years before the complaints began.
Following a rare decision to allow reporters inside a session with business leaders in Beijing on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang heard unfiltered comments from senior EU officials about the everyday reality for Europeans of conducting commerce in China.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who is responsible for negotiations to resolve a dispute with the U.S. over metal tariffs, pointed to a decline in EU investments in China and cited "a broad range of barriers" facing companies on both accessing the Chinese market and operating in the country.