Ahead of the Brussels talks, a Chinese escalation threatens to freeze the economic partnership

China has threatened to withstand further deterioration and freeze economic and trade relations with the European Union if the ongoing negotiations between the two sides are limited to mere formalities without achieving actual progress. Through these negotiations, the Europeans seek to reduce their trade deficit with Beijing, which is estimated at approximately one billion euros per day.

The “Yuyuantantian” account linked to China Central Television stated that Beijing believes that the European Union has adopted an approach based on imposing pressures and conditions to strengthen its negotiating position since the opening of the investigation into subsidies for Chinese electric cars. The account accused Brussels of violating the rules, considering that its regulatory influence was declining as a result of using the standards to impose restrictions on the entry of Chinese products into the markets.

These warnings come on the eve of an upcoming meeting in Brussels between Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčović to contain tensions. Brussels is pressing to address the imbalance after the Union recorded a record deficit in the first quarter of 2026, amounting to about $112 billion, following an increase in imports from China and a decline in European exports to it.