BRUSSELS, Oct 15 Reuters : The European Council President announced on Friday after a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the European Union and China would hold a high level summit soon.
Both of the World's biggest trading powers, the EU and China have not met in a formal physical summit setting since the outbreak of COVID - 19, with the last EU-China meeting via video conference on December 30th, 2020.
Since then, they have hit each other with targeted sanctions over accusations of human rights abuses, freezing progress on a bilateral investment deal that has been agreed but not ratified by the European Parliament.
On the relationship between China and EU, despite differences in the process, dialogue remains crucial, said Michel, who chairs EU summits on Twitter. He agreed to hold a summit between EU and China and strengthen our dialogue, he wrote, without giving a date.
An EU official confirmed the presence of the presidents in the conference call to hold the next EU-China summit. They will also have a meeting with all members of the European Council at a later stage, referring to a separate summit with all 27 EU national leaders.
On 22 March, the EU imposed sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses, which Beijing denies. The EU was immediately hit by Beijing with sanctions on European Parliament lawmakers, freezing approval of a recently agreed EU-China investment agreement.
The EU considers that the sanctions imposed against European Policymakers are unjustified and unacceptable. The EU will continue to look for a more balanced economic relationship, the official said.
The EU also set out its own strategy to strengthen its presence in Indo Pacific and counter China's rising power.
the EU spoke to President Xi about the situation of human rights in China, an EU official said of the call with Michel, also saying recent Chinese military flights near Taiwan were a concern, as well as China's dispute claims to islands in the South China SeaChina Sea.