In the runup to the G7 summit, hosted by France in Évian-les-Bains on Monday, 15 June, China has addressed global economic balances in a videoconference hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. It is a rarity for Beijing to engage directly with the group.
G7 countries are expected to discuss how to respond to the growing volume of low-priced Chinese exports entering their markets at the conference.
Macron has named the upcoming summit Global Convergence for Growth, where leaders, along with China and representatives from other major economies, their views on trade, investment and global market stability.
The videoconference helped clarify Beijing’s priorities for the meeting: Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing called for a free and convenient trade environment and said countries should take an objective view of each other's comparative advantages.
He added that China would continue to expand its efforts to open up economically and share development opportunities with other countries to bring stability to the world.
Beijing's position, in short, is that its manufacturing competitiveness reflects legitimate economic strengths rather than unfair practices which - a view that not all of its trading partners share.
Macron has been using France's G7 presidency to push for cooperative solutions to what he describes as global economic imbalances, with China producing too much, the United States consuming too much, and Europe investing too little.
French officials said the conference call was part of an effort to engage Beijing constructively before the European Union decides whether to tighten its trade policy toward China. EU leaders are scheduled to meet immediately after the G7 summit, with China expected to feature prominently on the agenda.
A major context to all of this is a Europe that is genuinely divided on how to handle its relationship with China. Germany, Europe's largest trading economy, has long been cautious about imposing tariffs on China given how much it exports there.
But as Chinese carmakers increasingly compete with German manufacturers, some German lawmakers have begun pushing for a firmer approach. Other EU members, meanwhile, have been more willing to consider imposing protective measures, and the gap between those positions has made a unified European response difficult to agree on.
Macron met with Xi Jinping in Beijing in December, where he told the Chinese president that Beijing should help rebalance economic relations cooperatively, or Europe would have little choice but to move toward more protectionist measures.
This call was a follow-up to that conversation - an attempt to keep dialogue open and give China a seat at the table before harder decisions are made at the summit.
Since December, Beijing has received leaders from five G7 nations for high-level meetings, an indication that both sides are paying close attention to what comes next.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be...
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is spreading faster than efforts to contain it, global humanitarian organisation Méd...
Kyrgyzstan has introduced an indefinite ban on the export of crude oil and petroleum products by road and rail in an effort to prevent fuel shortages ...
The Anaklia deep-sea port project has returned to Georgia's strategic agenda under a fundamentally different model. The move reflects the growing importance of Georgia's role in the Middle Corridor following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A senior U.S. commerce official told lawmakers on Tuesday that only a small number of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips have been shipped to China so far, as scrutiny grows over Washington's export controls on advanced technology.
More than 260,000 people were evacuated to safety in China's northeastern Liaoning province after Typhoon Bavi brought severe flooding and widespread disruptions.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 14th of July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
The United States carried out a third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, targeting military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump announced the reinstatement of a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
The death toll from the fire at a live music pub in Bangkok has climbed to 32 after two more victims died from their injuries, according to Thailand's Police Hospital.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged fresh attacks on Tuesday, with Kyiv targeting shipping and energy infrastructure inside Russia while Moscow launched another large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukrainian cities.
IBM has warned that a surge in spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure is weighing on its core business, in one of the clearest signs yet of how the AI boom is reshaping the technology sector.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
Ten EU countries, led by Italy and Poland, have urged the European Union to reconsider a new carbon price on fuel as part of a wider overhaul of the bloc's carbon market, according to a joint statement seen by Reuters.
The European Union (EU) has announced an additional €20 million ($22.8 million) in humanitarian assistance for Venezuela after last month's deadly earthquakes, which killed more than 4,700 people.
India's investigation into last year's Air India crash that killed 260 people has entered its final stages, with investigators completing a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder and carrying out a psychological autopsy as they work towards a final report.
The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is spreading faster than efforts to contain it, global humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned, calling for an urgent expansion of containment and care measures.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment