The 27 heads of government and EU heads of state are coming to Berlin next month for a special summit on China.
The meeting has been delayed because the 27 at their two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday barely got round to discussing relations with China, despite this being on the agenda.
The EU is keen to strengthen ties with China in the fight against the corona pandemic and climate change.
At the same time, there are many concerns about the “unbalanced” economic relationship between the two trading powers and human rights violations in Uyghurs and in Hong Kong.
The EU calls on Beijing to stop massively subsidizing companies that are active in the European market and enjoy a competitive advantage over other companies through that state aid.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is very keen on better agreements with China. Germany had organized a summit with Chinese leaders in Leipzig this fall, but the corona pandemic has disrupted it.
China has not been invited to the summit now being held in Berlin on 16 November.
