Chinese President Xi Jinping has rejected the initial invitation to be in Brussels and participate in a summit on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that China has informed EU officials that Premier Li Qiang, the country’s second-ranking official, will attend instead of Xi and meet with the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission in Brussels.
Traditionally, EU-China summits are hosted alternately between Brussels and Beijing. Usually, the prime minister participates in the Brussels summit and Xi hosts this summit in Beijing; But the European Union believes that the importance of this meeting, which is held to celebrate half a century of diplomatic relations, requires that the Chinese president participate in it.
Both sides have said talks are continuing, but the rejection of the initial invitation has reinforced the view that China will not take concrete action despite its promising statements about the need to cooperate against Donald Trump’s assault on the multilateral world order.
