BEIJING – European Trade Commissioner Maroš Sefčović said on Friday that China had agreed to halve exports of hybrid cars to the region.
According to the Financial Times, Europe has asked China to voluntarily reduce exports of hybrid cars to the continent, but authorities in Beijing have reportedly rejected the request.
The growing trade surplus between the EU and China has been a point of contention, with Germany and France previously urging Brussels to develop a “last resort” trade tool to address the imbalance.
Sefčović said on Friday that the final decision still required approval from Brussels. Overall, after a summer of heightened tensions between China and the EU, he credited the two-day meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing as a positive first step.
China’s Ministry of Commerce released a list of 16 “agreed results” on Friday.
This included permission to export rare earths and permanent magnets to the EU. Sefcovic did not elaborate on the timeline for rare earth exports.
Earlier this year, the first meeting of the EU-China trade and investment talks was held on June 29th.
According to an announcement from the Chinese side, the two countries agreed to hold the next meeting in March and a video conference in January.
