EU, China set October goal on trade talks

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao in Brussels on 29 June 2026 for intensive discussions on trade relations. The meeting focused on addressing mounting commercial tensions and setting a structured path for dialogue. Officials presented the talks as constructive and aimed at achieving practical outcomes rather than purely political statements.

Šefčovič stated that the EU wants to see “tangible results” from the dialogue with China by October 2026. He also said he plans to travel to China in the autumn to assess progress, giving the process a clear follow-up point at political level. This timeline is designed to keep pressure on both sides to move from broad commitments to concrete actions.

The EU and China agreed to establish a Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism as the main platform for follow-up work. This mechanism is divided into four workstreams: trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights, and reform of the World Trade Organization. The structure is intended to channel discussions into focused technical areas while keeping them under a single political umbrella.

Officials highlighted that the first priority will be trade and investment balancing. This reflects concerns in Europe over the scale and persistence of the bloc’s trade deficit with China, which has been cited at roughly €1 billion per day. By placing this workstream at the forefront, both sides signalled that addressing imbalances is central to the new process.

A dedicated working group on trade and investment balancing will be launched immediately under the new mechanism. Its first task will be to set up a joint monitoring mechanism so both sides work from the same trade-flow data. Sharing a common data set is intended to reduce disputes over basic figures and allow faster escalation to political consultations when needed.

The joint monitoring mechanism will track trade developments and flag any destabilising import spikes. In such cases, the framework foresees consultations at political level. While specific remedial tools were not detailed, the agreed process creates a channel for early discussion of emerging frictions before they harden into broader disputes.

The launch of the mechanism comes as concerns grow in the EU about its widening trade deficit with China, estimated at around €1 billion per day across the bloc. This imbalance has driven calls in Europe for stronger instruments to protect domestic industries and address perceived distortions in market access and competition.

Ahead of the Brussels talks, China warned that it was prepared to suspend economic and trade relations with the EU if negotiations continued without tangible results. The warning, carried by China’s state broadcaster, added urgency to the discussions and underlined that both sides see real stakes in the outcome. The October 2026 target for concrete progress is therefore both a political and economic milestone for the relationship.