Ministry of Commerce: China and Europe reach consensus on new positioning of bilateral economic and trade relations

Beijing, July 2 (Xinhua) -- At a regular press conference held on July 2, He Yadong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, stated that China and Europe have reached a consensus on a new positioning of their economic and trade relations, which is a stable and balanced key trading partner between China and Europe. This will help improve the expectations of Chinese and European enterprises, injecting more certainty and positive energy into the economic development of China, Europe, and even the world.

When introducing the first meeting of the China Europe Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism, He Yadong said that the mechanism is a newly established normalized exchange mechanism between China and Europe in the field of economy and trade. Both sides have agreed to hold 1-2 ministerial level meetings annually. During the first meeting, both sides focused on discussing three areas to promote upward balance in trade, rather than downward balance: first, in emerging fields, both sides will strive to expand cooperation in areas such as AI and green transformation; The second is potential areas, where both sides will deeply explore the potential for cooperation in areas such as service trade; The third is the problem area, and both sides will promote the gradual resolution of each other's concerns through market access negotiations.

In response to a question about the restart of the Sino German Economic Cooperation Joint Committee, He Yadong stated that Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao recently met with German Federal Minister of Economy and Energy Laiche in Brussels. Both sides agree that in the current turbulent international situation, China and Germany should strengthen dialogue and communication, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and develop bilateral economic and trade relations in accordance with the eight basic principles of mutual benefit, fairness, openness, stability, and reliability. Both sides agree to restart the China Germany Economic Cooperation Joint Committee, innovate cooperation mechanisms, establish two working groups for trade, investment, and industrial cooperation, adhere to problem and result orientation, and carry out policy exchanges and government enterprise dialogues on economic and trade issues.

At present, the teams of both sides are stepping up efforts to promote various tasks, striving to convene a new mechanism meeting chaired by the ministers of both sides in early 2027, accumulating economic and trade achievements for the next stage of high-level exchanges between China and Germany, promoting the construction of stable, balanced, and sustainable China Germany economic and trade relations, and assisting in the stable and healthy development of China Europe economic and trade relations, "said He Yadong.