Talks lay groundwork for a summit between EU and Chinese leaders in Beijing on July 24 and 25.
The European Unionโs foreign policy chief has urged China to end restrictions on the export of rare earth elements and warned that Chinese firmsโ support for Russiaโs war in Ukraine posed a serious threat to European security.
The statement from Kaja Kallas came on Wednesday after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brussels.
The EU is seeking to improve its relations with China amid United States President Donald Trumpโs tariff war, which has rocked major trading powers.
But instead of improvements, a trade spat has only deepened between Brussels and Beijing over alleged unfair practices by China. The 27-nation bloc is also railing against the flow of vital tech to Russiaโs military through China.
On Wednesday in her meeting with Wang, Kallas โcalled on China to put an end to its distortive practices, including its restrictions on rare earths exports, which pose significant risks to European companies and endanger the reliability of global supply chainsโ, a statement from her office said.
On trade, Kallas urged โconcrete solutions to rebalance the economic relationship, level the playing field and improve reciprocity in market accessโ.
She also โhighlighted the serious threat Chinese companiesโ support for Russiaโs illegal war poses to European securityโ.
China says it does not provide military support to Russia for the war in Ukraine. But European officials say Chinese companies provide many of the vital components for Russian drones and other weapons used in Ukraine.
Kallas called on China โto immediately cease all material support that sustains Russiaโs military industrial complexโ and support โa full and unconditional ceasefireโ and a โjust and lasting peace in Ukraineโ.
Wednesdayโs discussions were to lay the groundwork for a summit between EU and Chinese leaders on July 24 and 25. European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to China for the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
Earlier in the day, Wang also met Costa as part of those preparations.
In that meeting, Wang called on both sides to respect each otherโs core interests and increase mutual understanding, adding that โunilateralism and acts of bullying have seriously undermined the international order and rulesโ, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
Besides discussions on improving bilateral ties, Kallas and Wang also discussed the situation in Iran.
While both leaders welcomed the de-escalation between Israel and Iran, Kallas said she had โurged Iran to immediately restart negotiations on its nuclear programme and that Europe stands ready to facilitate talksโ, according to a statement from her office.
Kallas and Wang also โagreed on the importance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regimeโ.
The EU, the United Kingdom, France and Germany are parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the United States abandoned in 2018, which they hope to revive. Iran has always said its nuclear programme is peaceful and denies seeking a weapon.
