Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

EU’s von der Leyen calls for tougher policy on China ahead of Beijing visit

EU’s von der Leyen calls for tougher policy on China ahead of Beijing visit

EU will ‘reassess’ 2020 trade deal with China, and introduce a new strategy on economic security, Commission chief says.

Europe needs to be "bolder" on China, which has become “more repressive at home and more assertive abroad,” according to the president of the European Commission.

In a scathing speech ahead of her visit to China next week, Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday warned Beijing not to side with Moscow in bringing compromised peace to Ukraine, saying: “How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward.”

She implied, for the first time, that the EU could terminate pursuing a landmark trade deal with China, which was clinched in 2020 but subsequently stalled by the European Parliament after some of its members were sanctioned by Beijing.

“We have to recognize that the world and China have changed in the last three years — and we need to reassess CAI in light of our wider China strategy,” she said at an event co-hosted by the European Policy Center and Merics, referring to the China trade deal, known as Comprehensive Agreement on Investment.

While von der Leyen has commented critically on China in the past, this is the first time the EU chief has given a full speech on the bloc's relations with Beijing. Pointing to the situation in Taiwan, human rights violations in Xinjiang, and economic retaliations against Lithuania, she said: "These escalatory actions point to a China that is becoming more repressive at home and more assertive abroad."

“We are concerned by what is behind this return to the global stage,” said von der Leyen, who will be traveling to China next week with French President Emmanuel Macron. “We have seen a very deliberate hardening of China's overall strategic posture for some time. And it has now been matched by a ratcheting up of increasingly assertive actions.”

She was especially critical of the ties between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, the Chinese and Russian leaders, who met last week in Moscow.

"Most telling," von der Leyen said, "were President Xi’s parting words to Putin on the steps outside the Kremlin when he said: 'Right now there are changes, the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years. And we are the ones driving these changes together.'"

The Chinese Communist Party’s "clear goal is a systemic change of the international order with China at its center ... We have seen the show of friendship in Moscow which says a thousand words about this new vision for the international order," she said.

She also called on EU countries to make "bolder and faster use" of new economic tools against China, including screening of foreign subsidies and a new policy against economic coercion. The Council of the EU, representing the EU member states, has been wary of over-empowering the Commission to take decisions on punishing coercive countries.

Amid what she described as an "unbalanced" economic relationship, von der Leyen said the EU will introduce a new Economic Security Strategy later this year.

"Europe should develop a targeted instrument on outbound investment. This would relate to a small number of sensitive technologies where investment can lead to the development of military capabilities that pose risks to national security," she said. "We need to ensure that our companies' capital, expertise, and knowledge are not used to enhance the military and intelligence capabilities of those who are also systemic rivals."

Von der Leyen was especially critical of the ties between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin who met last week in Moscow


The EU, she added, needs to "define its future relationship with China" in sensitive high-tech areas such as microelectronics, quantum computing, robotics, artificial intelligence and biotech.

Despite all the rallying calls for defensive action, von der Leyen ended the speech with a note of cautious optimism. "China is a fascinating and complex mix of history, progress and challenges. And it will define this century," she said.

"But our story about how we relate to China is not yet fully written — and it need not be a defensive one."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×