China and EU set regular ministerial trade talks amid pressure to rebalance trade

New regular channel

China and the European Union will hold ministerial-level trade talks once or twice a year, China’s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, formalizing a higher-level channel as both sides face pressure over a record trade imbalance and wider policy tensions.

The ministry said EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has been invited to visit China in the autumn. The follow-up meetings are tied to a new China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism that was launched after talks in Brussels in June.

The announcement gives a more durable shape to a process that began with direct consultations in Brussels on June 29. At those talks, the two sides opened formal discussions over the trading relationship and set a three-month window for progress.

Šefčovič has said he wants tangible results by October.

What the talks are meant to do

According to the Chinese ministry, the talks are intended to make the bilateral trade relationship more balanced and to deepen ministerial-level dialogue on trade and investment policy.

Reported agenda items include trade rebalancing, export controls, intellectual property rights, World Trade Organization reform, artificial intelligence and renewable energy.

The EU has described its trade deficit with China as about 360 billion euros last year, or roughly 1 billion euros a day, a gap that has become a major political pressure point in Brussels. Member states and industry have been pushing the European Commission to respond more forcefully, while still trying to avoid a broader trade conflict.

China has argued that the EU should relax some export controls on high-tech goods and avoid politicizing trade issues.

Tougher backdrop

The talks are unfolding alongside a harder policy backdrop in Europe. The EU has recently introduced new steel and small-parcel measures widely seen as aimed at Chinese-linked imports.

AP reported that the bloc rolled out those measures this week as part of its effort to reduce the imbalance with China. The Guardian also reported that the Brussels consultations were organized into several work streams and that the sides were aiming for results by October.

The new ministerial format suggests both sides want a more structured way to manage disputes, but it also underlines how much remains unresolved.

What to watch

The next test is whether Šefčovič’s autumn trip to China goes ahead and whether it produces any concrete concessions.

It is also unclear whether the two sides will publish a joint readout or formal terms of reference for the new consultation mechanism.

Another open question is whether the EU’s new trade defenses will prompt retaliation from Beijing or whether the talks can contain the pressure long enough to avoid a wider escalation.