EU Leaders Raise Trade Issues; Xi: Don't 'Engage In Confrontation'

(MNI) London - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel have been speaking at length at a press conference in Beijing as part of the EU-China Summit, which has involved meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Select comments included below:

• Michel: "We have a shared interest in a stable and constructive relationship, based on respect for international rules-based order....We need to make our trade and economic relationship more reciprocal and balanced...We expect China to take more concrete actions to increase market access for foreign companies.'
• Von der Leyen: "We discussed root causes of trade imbalance, ranging from lack of access to Chinese market, preferential treatment of Chinese firms, and overcapacities in Chinese production...Politically, European leaders will not be able to tolerate that our industrial base is undermined by unfair competition...We agreed with President Xi that trade should be balanced between China and the EU...."
• Comments from both EU leaders come after Xi's comments, where he stated that the two sides should not view the other of rivals or 'engage in confrontation'. He called for the EU to 'eliminate all kinds of interference' in bilateral relations, and develop 'a right perception' of one another.