European Council President Charles Michel on Thursday warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping of the need to immediately deal with the “list of companies” involved in the supply of dual-use goods to Russia, pointing out that EU countries will soon discuss the issue of imposing sanctions against these organizations.
According to Politico, about 13 companies based in China are in the EU's crosshairs as the EU seeks to stop the diversion of dual-use goods exported to Russia.
These goods, according to official Kyiv and Western countries, contribute to the outbreak of an aggressive war against Ukraine. If Beijing fails to provide adequate guarantees, EU leaders meeting in Brussels next week may decide to name and shame the companies.
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— We have identified a list of companies believed to play a role in circumventing our sanctions and, given the possibility… during the summit, we agree that it is important to go into more detail. We sincerely hope that today we will be heard, and then China will take appropriate action, — Michel told reporters after high-level talks with Xi in Beijing.
Charles Michel added that the EU also intends to inform the EU countries about this so that further actions regarding these companies can be determined locally.
In turn, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is responsible for developing the upcoming sanctions package, said she told Xi to “prevent any attempts by Russia to undermine the impact of sanctions”.
The Chinese report published by state media Xinhua did not say how Xi responded to these concerns, although he said both sides should “strengthen mutual understanding and properly resolve differences through constructive dialogue&# 8221;.
The EU-China summit, the first in four years, comes as Beijing's leaders step up diplomatic engagement amid an economic slowdown driven in part by rising geopolitical tensions and calls from the West to play it safe in the world's second-largest economy.
At a meeting with EU officials, Xi indirectly dismissed the need to reduce risks and instead named China as Europe's partner in trade and the technology sector — while the US tightens restrictions on technology exports to its biggest competitor.
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Beijing, according to Xi, “is ready to consider the EU as a key partner in economic and trade cooperation, a priority partner in technological cooperation and a reliable partner in industrial and value chains”.
A subsequent meeting with Premier Li Qian featured tougher rhetoric regarding the EU's increasingly assertive China policy.
— China opposes the violation of the basic principles of a market economy, politicization and securitization of economic and trade issues, — Li said, adding that Beijing “hopes Europe will be careful in pursuing restrictive trade policies and using trade protection”.
Von der Leyen, responding to a question about the EU investigation into government subsidies for Chinese electric cars, only said that the issue was raised during the summit.
Regarding the EU's trade deficit with China, which doubled to almost €400 billion between 2020 and 2022, von der Leyen called the situation “critically unbalanced”.
According to her, X went through “intense” discussions, and “we agreed that we have a list of different elements that we want to delve into together as part of the high-level dialogue”.
— And this, of course, will determine the future of our relations… And so I think it's important now to see progress on the ground, — she said.
Von der Leyen added that she expects to see results from China taking concrete steps to address cross-border data flows, lack of market access for medical devices and restrictive laws against the cosmetics industry, which are of great concern to France.
