On December 7, 2023, the 24th China-EU Summit was successfully held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping met with President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who were in China for the summit. Premier Li Qiang and the two presidents of the EU side jointly chaired the summit. After the summit, Director-General of the Department of European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Wang Lutong gave an interview to the media and introduced relevant information about the summit.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU Summit mechanism. This summit is the first in-person meeting between the leaders of the two sides after three years since the COVID-19 pandemic. During the summit, leaders of the two sides had a long and face-to-face communication and in-depth and candid exchange of views on strategic issues bearing on China-EU relations as well as China-EU dialogue and cooperation in various fields, major concerns of both sides, global governance, and international and regional hotspot issues, and deepened strategic communication. This has demonstrated the global impact and significance of China-EU relations and injected constructiveness and stability into a world fraught with changes and turbulence. The two sides reached important common understandings on a series of issues:

The two sides agreed to maintain strategic stability in China-EU relations. The two sides believed that since the end of last year, with close high-level exchanges between China and the EU, fruitful outcomes of high-level dialogues have been achieved in the strategic, economic and trade, green and digital fields. The two sides agreed to maintain strategic stability in China-EU relations, and the EU reaffirmed its commitment to developing constructive and stable China-EU relations. The facts of the development of China-EU relations over the past 20 years have proved that China and the EU are partners, not rivals, with consensus and cooperation far surpassing disagreements and competition. The China-EU relationship has strong resilience and inner drive. It is not targeted at, subjugated to, or controlled by any third party. China is ready to work with the EU to uphold the positioning of the comprehensive strategic partnership, constantly strengthen the political foundation, continuously enhance strategic mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation across the board, step up multilateral coordination and cooperation, make China-EU relations more stable, constructive, reciprocal and global, and make greater contributions to the prosperity, stability and development of the Eurasian continent and the world at large.

Both sides agreed to continue carrying out mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the EU. Over the past 20 years, China and the EU have established an all-round, multi-tiered and wide-ranging cooperation framework. Bilateral trade has increased by six times and two-way investment by more than five times. Currently, the daily trade between China and the EU averages 2.3 billion euros, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples. The two sides agreed to hold a new round of China-EU high-level dialogue in strategic, economic and trade, green and digital fields at an appropriate time, as well as the dialogue on finance, industry, regional policies and competition policies and the first meeting of the China-EU Working Group on Finance. The two sides will stay committed to two-way openness and mutual benefit, oppose decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains, and stick to properly resolving differences through dialogue and consultation. The two sides will deepen cooperation in economy and trade, green development, geographical indications, intellectual property rights and other fields, make good use of the dialogue mechanisms on export control, explore the establishment of an early warning mechanism for key raw materials, and build a supply chain partnership of stability and mutual trust. The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation on carbon emissions trading and support the extension of the memorandum of understanding on the bilateral carbon emissions trading system. The two sides believed that people-to-people and cultural exchanges are an important cornerstone of China-EU relations, and hoped to accelerate the resumption of personnel exchanges and people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Both sides agreed to hold a new meeting of the China-EU High-Level People-to-People Dialogue next year. The EU welcomes the recent positive measures taken by China to facilitate personnel exchanges.

The two sides agreed to jointly address global challenges. Both sides support multilateralism and agree to strengthen communication and coordination within the United Nations and other multilateral frameworks, promote necessary reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), address global challenges such as food security, climate change and public health, and work for positive outcomes of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The two sides agreed to strengthen communication and coordination on major international and regional issues. On the Ukraine issue, China will remain committed to promoting talks for peace, promoting the political settlement of the crisis and supporting the EU in playing an important role.

During the summit, the Chinese side expressed concern over the EU's "de-risking" and restrictive economic and trade policies, including the anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles launched by the EU, 5G and other issues, and urged the EU to keep its trade and investment markets open, provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies, and use trade remedy measures prudently. The Chinese side stressed that the development of Chinese electric vehicles is not reliant on government subsidies, but rather on technological innovation and the ever-increasing competitiveness of Chinese companies. The Chinese side pointed out that subsidies are a widely used industrial policy tool by various countries, and the EU has been relaxing restrictions on subsidies in recent years. The EU's subsidies for the battery project alone reached about 6 billion euros. China's new energy industry has international competitiveness and can play an important role in the EU's green transition and global response to climate change. China hopes that the EU will not take trade protectionist measures under the pretext of so-called "overcapacity". The EU stated that it will not decouple from China, nor will it turn inward, and will abide by WTO rules and the principle of fair competition.

The Chinese side briefed on China's economic situation and sound development prospects, expounded its principled position on the Taiwan question, among others, and stressed that the EU should take concrete actions to uphold the one-China principle and non-interference in internal affairs, the basic norms governing international relations, and safeguard the political foundation of China-EU relations.