Conference on EU-China relations in Beijing discusses how to encourage balance, uphold commitments and embrace responsibilities

The Delegation of the European Union to China on 14 May hosted a one-day conference in Beijing to mark the 50 th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the EU and China. Titled “Encouraging Balance, Upholding Commitments, Embracing Responsibilities”, the conference brought together over 25 distinguished speakers from Europe and China to examine the history and future of EU-China relations across key areas such as geopolitics, trade, green transition, and global development. EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo delivered the first opening remarks, emphasizing the need for meaningful progress beyond dialogue between the EU and China: “this is high time for the two partners to go beyond mere dialogue, and make real progress.” The EU and China need to take this anniversary as an opportunity to rebalance the relationship, built on fairness and reciprocity. The structured dialogues upcoming in the next few months, such as the EU-China Human Rights High-level Dialogue, the EU-China Strategic Dialogue and the EU-China Summit must be used to achieve real progress that could lay a firm foundation for a strong and mutually beneficial relation in the future. Ambassador also stressed the global responsibility held by the EU and China: “We need to find joint solutions to shared challenges and to deepen our engagement and cooperation in the interest of regional and global security, prosperity and sustainable development.” He stressed that the EU and China must defend multilateralism...