China EU Photo: VCG

While some EU officials have been talking tough ahead of the China-EU Summit, European business representatives are expressing high hopes for the meeting, the first face-to-face event of its kind in four years, which is scheduled to take place in Beijing on Thursday.

It is expected that the summit will provide an opportunity for leaders from both sides to find a common language to discuss the challenges they face and bring a bit more balance to the relationship, European entrepreneurs told the Global Times. Some also hoped that the two sides could discuss and reach a consensus on the EU's anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles. 

Chinese observers and officials also urged Brussels to take a more pragmatic approach and expand areas of common ground rather than widen divergences. In this way, it will provide assurance to companies from both countries and channel new impetus into the stabilization and improvement of China-EU relations, they noted. 

"Maintaining open and frank dialogue that allows for differences to be raised is key to maintaining a healthy bilateral relationship," a spokesperson from the European Chamber of Commerce (EUCCC) told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

According to the spokesperson, it is in the interests of both sides to maintain close contact and work on the many areas ripe for mutual cooperation, such as climate change and biodiversity, the setting of international standards and WTO reform.

The chamber has met with several commissioners and other important EU officials in the past two months, and shared some of the main concerns of European businesses operating in China, he said, noting that it is hoped that those concerns will be communicated and discussed with the Chinese side during the summit.

With regard to economic topics expected to be discussed during the summit, the EU's anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicle imports from China is one among many. A number of companies called for Brussels to create a fair, non-discriminatory and rule-based market environment for the common development of the China-EU EV industry. 
"We feel that EU-China relations are of paramount importance to the future… We hope that China and the EU can reach consensus on issues related to the EU's countervailing investigation into electric vehicles from China," Ohad Seligmann, CEO of EV Motors, a chain distributor of BAIC Arcfox, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the EU bloc has thrown out tough words ahead of the summit.

 EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Europe won't tolerate its "soaring trade imbalance with China forever," according to an AFP report. "We have tools to protect our market," Von der Leyen said while adding "but we prefer to have negotiated solutions," the report noted.

A Reuters report quoted EU officials as saying that "they do not expect concrete outcomes from the summit" and there will be no joint statement from Thursday's talks. 

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that as solving differences through dialogue is an important experience for developing China-EU relations, it is hoped that the European side will meet China halfway, to create a good environment for the successful meeting between Chinese and European leaders and make joint efforts to promote the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations.

"China is a reliable and indispensable partner of the EU, whether in terms of solving pressing issues in Europe or effectively tackling global challenges," Wang stressed. 

Wang said that China-EU trade is a result of the macroeconomic environment, international trade conditions and bilateral industrial structures. The trade data could not reflect the distribution of revenue from bilateral trade under the integration of global supply and industry chain, and over one-third of exports by volume were shipped back to Europe by European companies in China.   

"China has a trade surplus with the EU on the surface, but in fact a substantial part of the profits were pocketed by European firms. It is not reasonable that the EU side imposes restrictions on high-tech exports to China on the one hand, yet hopes to drastically increase overall exports on the other hand," Wang said. 

Chinese observers also called for a firm focus on pragmatic cooperation during the China-EU summit in face of regional conflicts and a global economic downturn, rather than making it a field of geopolitical power plays. Stabilizing bilateral relations could also be a boon to EU companies operating in China.  
 
Han Jingjing, a sales and marketing vice president of Swiss air quality technology company IQAir China, told the Global Times on Wednesday that while the global market faces increasing uncertainties in terms of geopolitical tensions and economic growth, China is a huge market with greater stability and resilience.

Han noted that the company sees vast growth potential in the Chinese market thanks to the country's drive for sustained development.