BEIJING: The Financial Times of the United Kingdom quoted several people familiar with the matter on Sunday, revealing that Chinese President Xi Jinping refused the invitation to Brussels to attend the summit marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union. Beijing informed EU officials that China will be represented by Premier Li Qiang at the summit and will meet with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission.
The report pointed out that usually when the summit is held in Brussels, the Chinese Premier will attend; when it is held in Beijing, it will be hosted by the Chinese President. But the EU hopes that Xi Jinping will attend this summit to commemorate the half-century economic and trade cooperation between Beijing and the EU.
Xi Jinping's decision has aroused widespread attention from the outside world to the current state of China-EU relations. As the world's second and third largest economies, China and the EU's interaction on the international stage has an important impact on the global economic landscape. However, since Russia's invasion (SpecialMilitaryOperation) of Ukraine in 2022, tensions between Brussels and Beijing have intensified. Although China has repeatedly stressed its neutral position on the Ukrainian issue and called for resolving the issue through dialogue, the EU is clearly skeptical of its intentions. Geopolitical differences not only cast a shadow on China-EU relations, but may also be a potential factor in Xi Jinping's rejection of the summit invitation this time.
(RFA)
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