Beijing: China has stepped up its diplomatic campaign to protect multilateral trade frameworks, calling on the United Kingdom and the European Union to resist unilateral U.S. trade actions that Beijing says are distorting global commerce.
In separate phone conversations on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged his counterparts in Britain and Austria to uphold the integrity of the multilateral trading system as Beijing navigates mounting tariff pressure from Washington.
“The United States has weaponised tariffs to launch indiscriminate attacks on countries, openly violating WTO rules and undermining the legitimate rights and interests of others,” China’s foreign ministry quoted Wang as saying in a call with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Wang said that China and Britain shared the responsibility of defending international norms against what he described as “rampant unilateral bullying”. He also expressed Beijing’s willingness to work with London to “eliminate all distractions” and focus on safeguarding a rules-based trade order.
In a parallel discussion with Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Wang called on the European Union to stand firm in support of global trade norms. He reiterated China’s interest in boosting high-level coordination with the EU, even as geopolitical and economic tensions continue to rise.
The remarks come as trade friction between China and the United States intensifies. Washington has hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to a staggering 145%, prompting Beijing to retaliate with its own 125% duties on U.S. goods.
Just a day before these diplomatic calls, Beijing issued a stern warning to countries considering broader economic deals with Washington, cautioning that such moves could invite countermeasures if they came at China’s expense.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has also been at the forefront of rallying support from international partners. In a meeting earlier this month with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, Xi called on the European Union to join forces with China to protect globalisation and maintain open markets.
Behind the scenes, China and the EU have been expanding technical cooperation. After a visit by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic in late March, the two sides formed several working groups targeting specific areas of mutual economic interest — including electric vehicle supply chains and agricultural market access.
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One notable area of revived dialogue is around the minimum pricing of Chinese-made electric vehicles, a mechanism long supported by Beijing. This comes after the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese EVs last year, triggering renewed negotiations on how to balance trade protection and fair competition.
As Beijing leans on diplomatic overtures to counter U.S. pressure, it is increasingly clear that China sees its partnerships with Europe as crucial to preserving the global trade architecture in a rapidly fragmenting world economy.
