European Union and China Initiate Formal Trade Talks to Rebalance Economic Relationship

The European Union and China have agreed to three months of formal trade consultations aimed at addressing the EU's growing trade deficit with Beijing, which has reached a record €1 billion per day. The talks, initiated after a meeting between EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, seek to make the bilateral relationship more balanced and achieve tangible results by October, as the EU expresses concerns over Chinese firms' rapidly growing footprint and industrial overcapacity.