BRUSSELS — A top Chinese official and senior aide to President Xi Jinping will visit Brussels next week, amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and the European Union.
First Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang will co-chair the EU-China High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Friday, marking the most senior visit by a Chinese official to the EU capital since 2019. Ding will also visit Luxembourg.
Ding, formerly Xi’s chief of staff, is expected to raise the issue of the European Commission’s decision this week to slap Chinese electric vehicles with extra duties of up to 38 percent — on top of the 10 percent the EU already charges on all car imports.
The provisional duties would take effect only after they are formally announced in the EU’s official journal on July 4, leaving a window still open for the two sides to seek a negotiated settlement that would avert a full-scale trade war.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck of Germany, which had pushed for lower EV duties in a bid to shield its automakers from retaliation by Beijing, is meanwhile due to visit China next week.
Beijing has slammed the EU decision as contradicting its stated goal of achieving a green transition. European officials, for their part, have insisted on achieving a level playing field that offsets the impact of Chinese state aid, while getting tougher with Beijing as it aligns with Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
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