Ahead Of Beijing Trip VdL Confirms EU May Screen Investment Into China

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has delivered a speech on EU-China relations ahead of her visit to Beijing next week alongside French President Emmanuel Macron. VdL: "China has turned the page on [the] era of 'reform and opening' and [is] moving into [a] new era of security and control. [...]The Chinese Communist Party has a clear goal to make systemic change to [the] world order, with China at the centre."

• Confirms that the EU is considering an outbound investment screening tool: "This would relate to a small number of sensitive technologies where investment can lead to the development of military capabilities that pose risks to national security. The Commission will present some initial ideas as part of a new economic security strategy later this year."
• VdL: "I believe it is neither viable, nor in the interest of Europe, to decouple from China. [...] Need to focus on de-risking, not decoupling." Highlights three areas of de-risking: cutting dependency on critical materials, strengthening existing trade defences, and developing new trade defences.
• On the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI): "[The CAI] aimed at such rebalancing. But we have to recognise that the world and China have changed in the last three years – and we need to reassess CAI in light of our wider China strategy. [...]some areas of trade and investment poses risks to our economic or national security, particularly in the context of China’s explicit fusion of its military and commercial sectors."