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2025-07-30 | All chapters

On 21^st - 23^rd July, MEPs from a special committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS) travelled to Taipei to gain firsthand insight into Taiwan’s “whole-of-society” approach to countering hybrid threats, foreign interference and disinformation (Parliament news). The visit was criticised by the Chinese Mission to the EU (CGTN).

On 24^th July, the 25^th EU-China summit took place in Beijing, marking the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations. President of the European Council António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and HRVP Kaja Kallas met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Leaders discussed bilateral trade relations and climate change and agreed on a new mechanism to facilitate the export of rare earth elements and magnets to the EU. (Commission press release (1), Commission press release (2), MFA news,).

On 24^th July, in a joint statement following the EU-China Summit, both sides reiterated their commitment to bilateral climate cooperation and the Paris Agreement (Commission press release, MEE news).

On 24^th July, a business roundtable hosted by MOFCOM took place on the margins of the EU-China Summit, comprising two sessions: one with EU and Chinese CEOs, and one with EU and Chinese state leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen and Li Qiang. European Chamber President Jens Eskelund delivered a keynote address during the state leaders’ session. (European Chamber news, MFA news, MOFCOM news)

On 27^th July, Catalan Socialist leader Salvador Illa met Huawei representatives in Beijing in the context of a delegation visit to China. The visit comes amid a controversy over a EUR 12 million tender Spain awarded to Huawei, which involves the storage of sensitive judicial wiretap data. (EURACTIV) The contract was met with criticism from the senior US lawmakers. (US congress news)

On 27^th July, the EU and US struck a deal on tariffs and trade with a 15% tariff baseline, while US-China negotiations started the following day, potentially leading to another 90-day tariffs pause. (Commission press release, MOFCOM news, USTR news)

On 28^th July, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Stockholm in the margins of China-US trade talks to discuss bilateral relations, trade and geopolitical issues. (MOFCOM news, Ulf Kristersson social media post).

On 28^th July, the Commission announced that it has found the Chinese e-commerce giant Temu is breaching the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA) after it failed to assess risky and illegal products on its online marketplace (Commission press release).

WATCH OUT FOR:

27^th - 30^th July, US-China trade talks – Stockholm, Sweden.

29-30^th August 2025, Informal meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers – Copenhagen, Denmark