China's Xi Urges EU Leaders to Avoid Confrontation and Address Concerns

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned top EU officials not to view each other as rivals or engage in confrontation due to their different political systems during the first in-person China-EU summit in four years. Xi expressed China's willingness to make the EU a key economic and trade partner and cooperate on science and technology. He urged the EU to eliminate interference in the bilateral relationship. The EU officials raised concerns about the war in Ukraine, imbalanced economic relations, and restrictions on EU businesses in China. The meetings were the EU officials' last chance to engage with top Chinese officials before the European Parliament election next year.