Europe’s top leaders told President Xi Jinping on Tuesday they wanted a fairer trading relationship with China, signaling an openness to engage with Beijing’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure project if it meant more access to the Chinese market.
The Europe Union, the world’s largest trading zone, has become increasingly frustrated by what it sees as the slow pace of economic opening in China, even after years of granting China almost unfettered access to EU markets for trade and investment. As he seeks to forge a common European front to challenge China’s rise, French President Emmanuel Macron invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to talks with Xi in Paris.
