Overview
- EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on June 29 and the two sides issued a joint statement creating a ministerial Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism.
- The mechanism establishes four workstreams on trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights, and World Trade Organization reform and will start an immediate working group to set up a joint trade‑flow monitoring system.
- Officials will assess progress in September and ministers aim to show measurable outcomes by October, when Šefčovič plans a follow‑up visit to China to present the first tangible results.
- Beijing assured the EU that existing export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets will not disrupt European supply chains, but Brussels is still preparing faster sectoral tools and trade‑defence measures if talks fail.
- The talks respond to a roughly €360 billion goods deficit in 2025, OECD findings on heavy Chinese state support, and rising job pressure in sectors such as autos, and EU member states remain split on how far to go in using tariffs and safeguards.