China says industrial, supply chains with EU ‘mutually dependent,’ urges dialogue over trade ‘concerns’

China has called bilateral trade ties with the 27-member EU “highly integrated and mutually dependent,” stressing a need for dialogue over trade “concerns.”

The statement came after France and Germany called Monday for new EU trade instruments, arguing that the bloc’s existing measures are no longer sufficient to address challenges facing its trade system.

“Between China and the EU, the industrial and supply chains are highly integrated and mutually dependent, and our economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in a written statement late Tuesday.

“It is hoped that the EU will work with China in the same direction and resolve each other’s concerns through dialogue and consultation, so that the two parties can jointly keep the global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded and promote the sound and steady development of China-EU economic and trade relations,” he said.

In a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the EU was facing “unprecedented challenges,” and proposed to reduce European dependencies, resolve existing supply-chain concentration and prevent emerging concentration risks.

Their letter came ahead of a visit by EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to Beijing, where he will be hosted by China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

Wang and Sefcovic will meet Thursday and Friday, their first meeting in three months after they last met in Brussels.

Sefcovic earlier said that Brussels was seeking progress particularly in automobiles, medical devices, and agri-food products and could resort to defensive trade instruments if negotiations failed.

The EU imported €559.4 billion ($634 billion) in goods from China in 2025 while exporting €199.6 billion, leaving a goods trade deficit of €359.8 billion.