Remarks by President António Costa at the joint press conference with President von der Leyen following the EU-China Summit in Beijing
European Council / Council of the European Union
European Council
Statements and remarks
24 July 2025 15:30
We have just concluded the 25th EU-China Summit. I would like to thank President Xi and Premier Li for hosting us today and for the open and frank exchanges that we had.
This EU-China Summit takes place on the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. This anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on our shared history and to look towards the future.
Over the past five decades, EU-China relations have evolved greatly. The European Union remains committed to deepening our bilateral partnership, making concrete progress in addressing concerns with respect, goodwill and honesty.
We have become key trading partners and developed a wide-ranging, rich and deep cooperation. The EU and China are major economies and global powers. How we engage and cooperate matters to the world. The EU and China have a shared interest in pursuing a constructive, stable, balanced and mutually beneficial relationship.
We want to work together on global peace and security, prosperity and sustainable development. As such, tackling the global challenge of climate change is a shared priority. Today, we discussed with President Xi and Premier Li ways to further expand and deepen our longstanding engagement, both bilaterally and as responsible leaders at global level. We agreed that the EU and China have a joint responsibility to uphold the Paris Agreement.
And I am very pleased that for today's Summit we have managed to agree on a substantive joint statement on our cooperation in the climate field. This sends an important message on our work together. We encouraged China to also propose an ambitious National Determined Contribution for COP30. China should lead by example, in line with its major global role.
We agreed that we have a shared responsibility to support multilateralism and the rules-based international order, and to uphold all the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. As a permanent member of UN Security Council, China has a key role and responsibility for this. In this context, we addressed Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. The war in Ukraine goes far beyond Europe - it is a conflict with global implications, that undermines the rules based international system. It is not just a "European" conflict. We agreed on the need to achieve a just and lasting peace as soon as possible. Today's discussion was one of great sincerity. This discussion must continue even if we don't agree on certain issues.
Promoting and protecting human rights is a central pillar of the EU's engagement with other countries, including with China. We welcomed the recent round of the European Union-China Human Rights Dialogue that took place in Brussels in June. Today, we reiterated our concerns and we will continue engaging on this important topic.
Last but not least, an important part of our agenda concerned our trade and economic relations. The EU and China together account over a third of global GDP. So having a fair balance in our economic relations is essential. We discussed trade distortions, imbalances and market-access issues, with one clear message as a bottom line: fair and mutually beneficial trade relations are possible and should be our joint aim.
Together with President von der Leyen and the High Representative, I came to Beijing to address all these issues directly with China's President Xi and Premier Li. The European Union always prioritises open and constructive dialogue to find shared solutions. Dialogue and negotiation are in our DNA. That's what we did today - in an open and frank manner. Now it is time to put today's discussions into action and to make further progress.
Thank you.
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