Chinese President Xi Jinping and top EU officials mark 50 years of diplomatic ties in Beijing at a rocky time in relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said Europe and China must make the “correct strategic choices” in the face of recent global challenges during a summit with top European Union officials, which comes at a particularly rocky time in their relationship.
“Faced with the rapidly evolving global changes of a century and the international situation of intertwined turmoil, Chinese and European leaders must … make correct strategic choices that meet the expectations of the people and stand the test of history,” Xi said, according to state news outlet CCTV.
Xi’s remarks on Thursday followed a meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa, who are in Beijing for the 25th EU-China summit.
The EU and China are marking 50 years of diplomatic relations amid thorny disagreements ranging from the EU-China trade deficit to Beijing’s ongoing support for Russia’s war machine.
The event is the first in-person summit for Chinese and EU leaders since 2023, and more modest than initial plans for a two-day meeting in Europe.
While expectations were low heading into the meeting, the EU and China are expected to sign an agreement on climate change and carbon emissions, Reuters news agency reported, citing European diplomats.
Chinese state media and officials have also billed the summit as a chance for Beijing and the EU to normalise relations at a time of global uncertainty, stirred by United States President Donald Trump and others.
Von der Leyen cast the EU-China meeting in a similarly positive light in a post on X on Thursday.
“This Summit is the opportunity to both advance and rebalance our relationship. I’m convinced there can be a mutually beneficial cooperation,” she wrote. “One that can define the next 50 years of our relations.”
📍Touchdown in Beijing, as we mark 50 years of ties between Europe and China.
This Summit is the opportunity to both advance and rebalance our relationship.
I’m convinced there can be a mutually beneficial cooperation.
One that can define the next 50 years of our relations. pic.twitter.com/0SA3YS4k6V
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 24, 2025