"The EU and China are broadly on a colliding trajectory in terms of their trade and industrial policy concerns," he told CNBC. Bones of contention include the challenge of China's overcapacity and trade diversion to Europe, Stec, who is also head of the Mercator Institute's Brussels office, explained.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Europe to set the tone for the upcoming EU-China Summit, but the differences are such between the two sides that the summit could become meaningless and get condensed to a one-day affair.

China and the EU are locked in an escalating trade war with serious global consequences. Learn how tariffs, policy clashes, and tech competition are reshaping power dynamics.

EU imports nearly all rare earths from China; experts warn of 'blackmail' risk as bloc faces pressure from Trump tariffs, Beijing's grip ahead of high-stakes EU-China summit

Every Friday, we recap highlights of the news from China. This week, we are flagging some hurdles ahead of an EU summit in Beijing, and the anticipation before the release of important economic data.

China will impose some reciprocal curbs on medical-device procurement for companies based in the European Union, adding tensions between the two major trading partners just as Beijing seeks to shore up ties while it fights a trade war with the US.

The EU will seek to rebalance economic ties with China, demanding it eases market access for European firms and loosen export controls on rare earths at a summit this month, the bloc's chief said on Tuesday (Jul 8).

European leaders fear a knock-down-drag-out trade war with the United States far more than their counterpart in the White House.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has urged China to end restrictions on the export of rare earth elements and warned that Chinese firms’ support for Russia’s war in Ukraine posed a serious threat to European security. The statement from Kaja Kallas came on Wednesday after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brussels.

The European Union and China share one of the world’s most important — and most complicated — relationships. We break down the key areas of cooperation and conflict between these two global powers. From booming trade and climate collaboration to rising tensions over human rights,

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were "areas of potential cooperation" between Washington and Beijing, and stressed the importance of managing differences, following his first in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart as he wrapped up a two-day regional security forum in Malaysia.