EU Trade Chief Says China Talks Must Deliver by October

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on Monday were “intensive, focused and constructive”, and should produce tangible results by October.

“We think that between now and October, our teams have sufficient time to deliver tangible results”, Sefcovic told reporters after the meeting. Wang invited him to travel to Beijing in October.

Sefcovic insisted the EU wanted the talks to address the widening trade gap.

“China’s exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking. This trend is not sustainable and the status quo is not an option”, he said.

Both sides have set up groups to discuss the trade balance, export controls, intellectual property and World Trade Organization (WTO) reform.

Sefcovic welcomed China’s assurances that rare earth controls would not disrupt EU supply chains.

China’s commerce ministry said early on Tuesday that Wang had raised concerns over the EU’s draft Cybersecurity Law and Industrial Accelerator Act, and reiterated Beijing’s position that Brussels should not see “China as the root of the EU’s problems”.

EU leaders have asked the Commission, which handles trade relations for the bloc, to produce results from dialogue with China.

China’s trade surplus with the EU reached €360.6bn ($411.95bn) in 2025, up 15% from 2024, and expanded by another 10% in the first four months of this year.

(Reuters, Max)