European leaders will "not be able to tolerate that our industrial base is undermined by unfair competition," Ursula von der Leyen warned on Thursday after a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Good morning.
00:03 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen labelled it a summit of choices, and
00:07 it wasn`t much beyond that.
00:10 At the first in-person EU-China summit in over four years, leaders from both sides met
00:15 Thursday in Beijing, where frank words were exchanged, but no solid action was committed
00:20 to.
00:21 By far the biggest issue of the day was the huge trade imbalance Europe faces with the
00:25 Asian giant, which currently stands at nearly 400 billion euros.
00:30 And Commission President von der Leyen says that the EU will no longer turn a blind eye
00:34 to it.
00:36 Politically European leaders will not be able to tolerate that our industrial base is undermined
00:42 by unfair competition.
00:44 We like competition.
00:46 It makes us better, it lowers prices.
00:49 It's good for the consumers.
00:51 But competition needs to be fair.
00:55 We insist on fair competition within the single market.
00:59 Therefore, we also insist on fair competition from companies that come to our single market.
01:06 Tensions between Brussels and Beijing have steadily risen over the past year as the EU
01:11 seeks to de-risk its economy from China.
01:13 In September, the commission opened up a probe into subsidized Chinese electric cars entering
01:19 the blocks market, riling Beijing in the process.
01:22 At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping himself warned Europe not to implement protectionist
01:27 trade policies.
01:29 But at the same time, the door was left open to a deepening of ties.
01:34 China is promoting high-quality development and high-level openness.
01:37 We are willing to support the EU as a key partner in economic and trade cooperation,
01:40 and to insist on strategic autonomy.
01:41 China and the EU have come to a real multilateralism.
01:42 To maintain world peace, promote joint development, and respond to global challenges, we will
01:43 work together.
01:44 For this analyst from Merix, a think tank currently sanctioned by China, the summit
01:56 may not have delivered on much, but it has set the EU's tone for Beijing that if it
02:01 does not take action, then Europe will respond.
02:07 It seemed that the EU has put on the table the fact that it really wants China to engage
02:13 constructively and if not, it's going to take action.
02:16 It's very much a signal that the EU side is expecting action to happen soon on the Chinese
02:22 side.
02:23 If not, then our relationship might get a little bit more complex in terms of European
02:28 responses.
02:29 Cooperation on climate change was also a key topic, despite China's latest commitment to
02:33 a whole host of fresh coal power plants.
02:37 On Ukraine, Brussels reiterated its desire for Beijing to help end the war and to stop
02:42 Russian businesses from circumventing Western sanctions.
02:45 (lion growling)
02:47 (dramatic music)