The European Union’s top officials had a strong message when they met Chinese leaders Thursday in the two sides’ first in-person summit in four years: Things must change if they are to get better.
Europe’s top two officials, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel, visited Beijing with a list of economic grievances, calling on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to improve market access for products from the bloc’s 27 member states and address a trade deficit that has ballooned to more than $400 billion — a situation Brussels views as “unsustainable.”
“If you just look at the last two years, the trade deficit has doubled. This is a matter of great concern for a lot of Europeans,” von der Leyen said during a news conference alongside Michel, who struck a similar tone.