The 24th EU-China summit took place in Beijing, China. This was the first in-person EU-China summit since 2019.

President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, accompanied by High Representative Josep Borrell, represented the EU. They met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang at two separate sessions.

The summit was an opportunity to engage with China at the highest level and to pursue constructive and stable EU-China relations.

Discussions at the summit revolved around the state of EU-China relations , including the trade and economic relationship, and international issues.

• 24th EU-China summit: engaging to promote our values and defend our interests (press release, 7 December 2023)
• Remarks by President Charles Michel at the press conference following the EU-China summit in Beijing (press release, 7 December 2023)

Trade and economy

The EU and China are major economic partners. However, the EU’s trade deficit with China is almost €400 billion.  

The EU therefore stressed to China the importance of achieving a more balanced economic relationship with a level playing field and reciprocity. 

The EU expects China to take more concrete action to improve market access and the investment environment for EU investors and exporters. 

The EU aims to strengthen resilience by addressing critical dependencies in specific sectors, in full compliance with the World Trade Organization rules.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine 

The leaders discussed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. 

EU countries are committed to continuing their strong support for the people of Ukraine. 

During the summit, the EU: 

• reiterated that, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has a special responsibility in upholding the UN Charter’s core principles
• strongly encouraged China to engage on Ukraine’s peace formula
• insisted that China should refrain from supplying lethal weapons to Russia
• reiterated how important it is that China help to prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions

Middle East 

EU and Chinese leaders also discussed the tragic events unfolding in the Middle East. 

The EU condemned in the strongest terms the indiscriminate and brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel.  

The EU reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international humanitarian law.   

The EU and China agreed that getting life-saving aid to the most vulnerable must be a top priority. 

Since the start of the war, the EU has quadrupled its humanitarian aid to over 100 million euro. 

Both the EU and China support the revival of a political process based on the two-state solution.

• European Council conclusions on Middle East, 26 October 2023

Global challenges 

EU and Chinese leaders discussed areas of shared interest such as climate change and health. 

The EU acknowledged recent progress on the expansion of renewable energy and China’s intention to tackle methane emissions. 

The EU encouraged China to:

• triple renewable energy capacity
• double energy efficiency by 2030
• join the global methane pledge
• Climate goals and the EUʼs external policy (background information)

The EU and China are cooperating to improve global health. This includes work on an international pandemic treaty. 

• An international treaty on pandemic prevention and preparedness (background information)

Human rights

The EU welcomed the resumption of the human rights dialogue. 

During the summit, the EU nevertheless reiterated its deep concerns about the human rights situation in China, in particular about:

• systemic human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet
• forced labour
• the treatment of human rights defenders and persons belonging to minorities

Asian region 

The EU reaffirmed its ‘one China’ policy and expressed its concerns about the growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas. 

See also:

• EU-China relations factsheet (EEAS)

Background

EU-China relationship

At the June European Council, EU leaders held a strategic discussion on the EU’s relations with China.

In their conclusions, they reaffirmed the EU’s multifaceted approach towards China, and the continued engagement with China:

• to tackle global challenges such as climate change, pandemic preparedness and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
• to ensure a level playing field for a balanced economic and trade relationship

The Council and the Parliament today reached provisional political agreement on a proposal to revise the energy performance of buildings directive.

The revised directive sets new and more ambitious energy performance requirements for new and renovated buildings in the EU and encourages member states to renovate their building stock.

The main objectives of the revision are that by 2030 all new buildings should be zero-emission buildings, and that by 2050 existing building stock should be transformed into zero-emission buildings.

Solar energy in buildings

The two co-legislators have agreed on article 9a on solar energy in buildings which will ensure the deployment of suitable solar energy installations in new buildings, public buildings and existing non-residential ones which undergo a renovation action that requires a permit.  

Minimum energy performance standards (MEPS)

When it comes to minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) in non-residential buildings, the co-legislators agreed that in 2030 all non-residential buildings will be above the 16% worst performing and by 2033 above 26%.

Concerning the renovation target for residential buildings, member states will ensure that the residential building stock will reduce the average energy consumption by 16% in 2030 and a range between 20-22% in 2035. 55% of the energy reduction will have to be achieved through renovation of the worst performing buildings.

Phasing out fossil fuels in buildings

Finally, in relation to the plan to phase out fossil fuels boilers, both institutions agreed on including in the National Building Renovation Plans a roadmap with a view to phase out of fossil fuel boilers by 2040.

Next steps

The provisional agreement reached today with the European Parliament now needs to be endorsed and formally adopted by both institutions.

Background

The Commission submitted to the European Parliament and the Council a proposal for a recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive on 15 December 2021. The Directive forms part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package, setting the vision for achieving a zero-emission building stock by 2050.

The proposal is particularly important because buildings account for 40% of energy consumed and 36% of energy-related direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. It also constitutes one of the levers necessary for delivering on the Renovation Wave Strategy, published in October 2020, with specific regulatory, financing and enabling measures, with the objective of at least doubling the annual energy renovation rate of buildings by 2030 and fostering deep renovations.

The existing EPBD, last revised in 2018, lays down minimum requirements for the energy performance of new buildings and of existing buildings that are being renovated. It establishes a methodology for calculating the integrated energy performance of buildings and introduces an energy performance certification for buildings.