Tradition would have dictated that European Union officials host the Chinese leadership for the summit held to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the powers, especially as the previous EU-China summit, held in 2023, took place in Beijing. However, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and her European Council counterpart, Antonio Costa, agreed to travel to China once again. That was the condition for meeting with President Xi Jinping on Thursday, July 24, as the Chinese leader had no intention of coming to Europe.
Yet the gesture was not enough to win Beijing over, as points of friction have continued to crop up between the two parties. Not only was the summit, which had originally been planned as a 48-hour event, cut down to a single day in the Chinese capital city, but it is also unlikely to conclude with any joint statements being adopted, except, perhaps, one on climate change. Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, which will take place in Belem, Brazil, from November 10-21, both parties have an interest in showing a united front on climate issues, at a time when the United States is gearing up to officially exit the Paris Agreement for a second time.
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