The European Union (EU) and China held their 25th Summit in Beijing on 24 July 2025. The President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, met with China's President, Xi Jinping, followed by a meeting with Premier Li Qiang. The High Representative of the EU for Foreign and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, also participated in the meetings.
The Summit marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the European Union and the People's Republic of China. It was the opportunity for leaders to discuss the bilateral relationship in all its aspects, as well as global and geopolitical issues.
The EU underlined the importance it continues to attach to this relationship and reiterated its commitment to deepen engagement with China, and enhance cooperation to address joint global challenges such as climate change. The EU stressed that deepened engagement must lead to concrete progress on issues of joint interest and more productive work towards a balanced and mutually beneficial economic relationship, built on fairness and reciprocity.
The leaders agreed that the EU and China have the shared responsibility to uphold the international rules-based order and to tackle global challenges. They reiterated their commitment to work together to safeguard multilateralism.
The leaders discussed Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU underlined that this war of aggression is not only an existential threat to Ukraine, but also to global security. The EU reiterated that, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China bears special responsibility to uphold the rules-based international order, the UN Charter and international law. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a clear case of their violation. The EU repeated its calls on China not to provide any material support which sustains Russia's military-industrial base. The EU encouraged China to use its influence to support a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, based on the principles of the UN Charter. The EU underscored that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's supply of troops and arms in support to Russia's war in Ukraine poses considerable risks to security in Europe as well as East Asia.
The EU and China are major trading partners. In 2024, the bilateral trade relationship was worth €730 billion. However, current trade relations remain critically unbalanced, with the trade deficit in goods reaching €305 billion. The EU raised its concerns about ongoing systemic distortions and growing manufacturing overcapacity, both of which exacerbate an uneven playing field. Similarly, the EU reiterated its call for progress on longstanding market access issues and recalled that Chinese investments in Europe contribute to the EU's long-term competitiveness, technological progress and quality job creation.
The EU remains ready to continue to engage in constructive dialogue to find negotiated solutions. As long as this is not the case, the EU will take proportionate, legally compliant action to protect its rightful interests.
The EU expressed its expectation that China takes concrete action on EU firms' access to China's market in priority areas such as meat, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The EU insisted on the need for China to put an end to unjustified and retaliatory trade defence cases and measures on EU exports of brandy, pork and dairy. The EU highlighted the negative impact of export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets introduced by China and urged China to lift these restrictions.
Leaders welcomed the positive and productive bilateral cooperation on climate change, built on close engagement both bilaterally and in international fora. They agreed that the EU and China must lead global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions including at COP30. Underlining this commitment, the two sides agreed a Joint Press Statement on Climate Change. The EU's share of global emissions has dropped to 6% and the EU reaffirmed its determination to reduce it even further, to 4%, by 2030. The EU encouraged China to propose an ambitious plan for its emission reductions up to 2035, and to step up its international finance contributions, commensurate with its size and global responsibility. The EU invited China to join the Global Methane Pledge and to contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. Both sides agreed to cooperate on achieving an ambitious and balanced international treaty on plastic pollution.
Since the last Summit in December 2023, the EU and China have kept up intensive engagement both at technical and political levels in a wide range of areas. This has resulted, among other things, in upgrading cooperation on emissions trading systems in relation to greenhouse gases, the implementation of a joint roadmap on the circular economy, a new Action plan on regional policy cooperation for the period 2024-29, a new dialogue on financial regulation and relaunching the work of a group on drug precursors. The EU and China are also working to extend the protection of geographical indications from 200 to 550 products.
The EU stressed the need to foster reciprocity in the digital sphere, underlining that European companies faced limited access to China. The EU further reiterated continued concern about the lack of clarity regarding Chinese data security rules and cross-border data flows from China, as well as malicious cyber activities detected as originating from China.
The EU reiterated its deep concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and Tibet, the treatment of human rights defenders and persons belonging to minorities, as well as the continued erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, where China should honour its prior commitments. The EU welcomed the holding of the 40th session of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue on 13 June 2025 in Brussels, which allowed for an in-depth exchange on human rights issues, including on a number of individual cases of concern.
The EU reaffirmed its consistent One China policy and expressed concerns about increased tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Heightened instability in the East and South China Seas threatens regional and global prosperity and security. The EU opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion and insists on resolving disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
