Europe’s Top Diplomat to Visit Beijing as Economic Rivalry Grows

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Josep Borrell, vice president of the European Commission, arrives for a EU Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday, June 29, 2023. European Union leaders are trying to agree on steps to support Ukraine militarily over the longer term amid pressure to provide the government in Kyiv with additional security commitments and a clearer path on joining NATO. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union’s top diplomat will head to Beijing next week for meetings with Chinese officials, a trip that comes as Europe tries to figure out how to manage economic rivalry with China.

Josep Borrell will arrive in Beijing on Monday and meet Foreign Minister Qin Gang and other senior figures, according to the EU’s ambassador to Beijing, Jorge Toledo.

Toledo told the World Peace Forum in Beijing on Sunday that Brussels would continue to raise “strategic issues” with China, including human rights practices and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The two sides would continue dialogue on economic and trade issues, likely in September, and could hold a leaders’ summit at the end of the year, he added.

“We want to engage with China in all issues, in our partnership, in our competition and in our systemic rivalry,” Toledo said.

China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Tuesday at a regular press briefing in Beijing she didn’t have any information to offer about a visit to China by Borrell.

Read: China Restricts Export of Chipmaking Metals in Clash With US

Beijing is trying to persuade Europe to take a less hawkish stance than the US, which has imposed a raft of export controls on China to curb its access to advanced technology. Beijing escalated that dispute on Monday by imposing restrictions on exporting two metals that are crucial to parts of the semiconductor, telecoms and electric-vehicle industries.

Borrell’s visit will follow one by EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, who is meeting this week with Chinese officials on climate, biodiversity and environmental protection issues. The pair postponed a visit to China earlier this year because they tested positive for Covid-19.

(Updates with remarks from China’s Foreign Ministry.)