As the United States increasingly turns its back on Europe, the EU and China seek to draw closer. Trade tensions, Russia's war in Ukraine and the pursuit of joint climate change ambitions however thwart progress.

The European Union and China celebrated 50 years of bilateral diplomatic relations at a high-profile summit in Beijing on Thursday. But many contentious issues dampened the festive mood.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa arrived in the Chinese capital early on Thursday, accompanied by EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas.

Despite being each other's second-largest trading partners, EU-China ties have become increasingly fraught. Brussels is alarmed by a record trade deficit of over 300 billion Euro in the last year and China's export controls on critical rare earths used in electric motors and sensors.

Ahead of the meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and the EU must deepen the trust in one another in a turbulent world but the bloc's chiefs called for 'real solutions' to move past an 'inflection point'.

The EU vowed it would confront the deep divisions over trade, fears that cheap, subsidised Chinese goods could overwhelm European markets, as well as Beijing's tacit support for Russia's war against Ukraine.

China's support for Russia in its war against Ukraine has long been of concern to the EU. Costa and von der Leyen urged China to 'use its influence' on Russia to help end Moscow's 'war of aggression'.

The Commission chief after the summit said that 'how China continues to interact with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's war will be a determining factor for our relations going forward'.

Costa said that China, 'as a permanent member of the [United Nations] Security Council, has a special responsibility to influence Russia to stop this war, to accept an unconditional ceasefire and to go to a fair negotiation with Ukraine'.

Brussels has also pointed to climate-related matters where it wants China to do more but where cooperation is seen as more feasible.

The two EU chiefs underscored that China and the EU agreed they must both 'must uphold the Paris Agreement'. Agreed in 2015, it was the first universal, legally binding global climate agreement that committed countries to limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Electric cars and brandy

At a press conference in Beijing, Costa said the EU and China 'have a shared interest in pursuing a constructive, stable, balanced and mutually beneficial relationship'. Von der Leyen in turn said: 'Europe welcomes competition. We like competition. But competition has to be fair.'

Trade imbalances are growing as China exports large quantities to Europe but imports very little and limits access to the Chinese market for European companies. Some EU countries have however reported growth in recent years.

Bulgarian Economy Minister Petar Dilov said on Monday that the country's bilateral trade with China totaled over 1 billion US dollars in the first quarter of 2025, marking a 27.8 percent increase compared to the same period of 2024.

Trade between Portugal and China has also been steadily growing, with bilateral exchanges surpassing 9.6 billion US Dollar in 2024. Portugal primarily exports copper, paper, wine, and electrical machinery, while importing electronic equipment, vehicles, heavy machinery, and chemical products.

The trade relationship benefits from the complementarity between the two markets but is nonetheless marked by a trade deficit on the Portuguese side.

On a diplomatic level, Portugal's relationship with China also benefits from its colonial past, particularly the handover of Macau. The autonomous region on the south coast of China was under Portuguese rule from the establishment of the first official settlement in 1557 until its handover to China in 1999.

However, trade tensions are still rife in several areas. In a showdown last year, the EU increased tariffs of up to 35 percent on electric vehicles made in China, claiming large-scale subsidies give Chinese manufacturers an unfair advantage. It has also begun a probe into Chinese suppliers of wind turbines.

Slovenia was one of the countries that did not support the Commission's decision to impose these levies.

In June, Slovenian Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sport Matjaž Han met with representatives of Chinese electric car manufacturer Nio in Munich to discuss the possibility of manufacturing cars in Slovenia at a plant owned by Austrian company Magna Steyr.

China has rebuffed Brussels' claims over EV competition and announced what were widely seen as retaliatory probes into imported European pork, brandy and dairy products.

Almost all EU brandy is cognac produced in France, exports of which to China are worth 1.4 billion Euro per year.

Tentative signs of a thaw in the row over the prized tipples came as China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot met in Paris earlier this month.

At the same time however China slapped anti-dumping taxes of up to 34.9 percent on the beverage, requiring major European brandy exporters to raise prices to avoid them.

Russia sanctions foil summit celebrations

Just days ahead of the Beijing meeting, the EU adopted a new package of sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine - including on two Chinese banks, leading Beijing's commerce minister to issue a formal message of disapproval - known as 'solemn representations' in diplomatic terms - to his EU counterpart.

'We know that Chinese companies supply around 80 percent of the dual-use goods to the war,' Costa said, referring to goods with nominally civilian uses but which can also have military applications. 'We're not naive. We're not asking China to cut relations, but to step up the customs and financial controls.'

Brussels says China's deepening political and economic relations with Russia since the 2022 invasion represent tacit support for Moscow that have helped its economy weather sweeping Western sanctions.

China denies the claims and Beijing said on Monday that the sanctions would have 'a serious negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations'.

Several outlets have reported that Yi told Kallas earlier this month that Beijing did not wish to see Russia lose the war as it feared the United States would then turn its full focus towards China.

Those comments, reported by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post and citing unnamed EU officials, would run counter to Beijing's public stance on the hostilities.

The 18th round of economic measures from Europe against Russia since its 2022 invasion comes as allies hope US President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to punish Moscow for stalling peace efforts.

EU pushes Beijing to climate action

Despite the tensions over trade and the war in Ukraine, the EU hopes for cooperation with China on tackling climate change and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The warming planet is historically an area of convergence between Brussels and Beijing, with both sides signalling a willingness to cooperate on combating climate change.

According to a press statement, Chinese and EU leaders on Thursday agreed 'that strengthening China-EU cooperation on climate change bears on the well-being of the peoples on both sides and is of great and special significance to upholding multilateralism and advancing global climate governance'.

It also read 'that green is the defining color of China-EU cooperation, and that the two sides have a solid foundation and broad space for cooperation in the field of green transition'.

During a visit to Beijing this month, European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera warned that 'the possible lack of ambition by major emitters is a concern to the international community and to our citizens' and called for great action.

China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, in turn, hailed China's 'participation in global environmental governance'.

Asked whether EU moves against Chinese green energy firms could harm the global transition to renewables, Ribera said she accepted that 'it is fair to say that, yes, we may benefit in the very short term' from cheaper imports, but warned 'it could kill the possibility' of long-term investment in the bloc's future.

The EU aims to become carbon neutral by 2050. China - the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter - has pledged to do so by 2060.

The content of this article is based on reporting by AFP, ANSA, BTA, dpa, EFE, Lusa, STA, as part of the European Newsroom (enr) project. AGERPRES (editing by: Simona Klodnischi)