BEIJING v BERLIN (Reuters) – President Xi Jinping told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday that he saw “various challenges” in China-EU relations and hoped the EU could “independently” judge correctly, a statement said. of the Chinese government.
The statement quoted Xi during a phone call that the EU and China should respect each other and “eliminate interference”, adding that China is willing to work with the global community to promote the “fair and reasonable distribution” of VOCID vaccines. 19 and opposes vaccine nationalism.
Last month, the EU imposed its first significant sanctions on Chinese officials since 1989 over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region of China. Beijing, which denies the allegations, has been blacklisted by EU lawmakers and entities.
The United States, Britain and Canada have also sanctioned Chinese officials in connection with Xinjiang, and the line threatens to derail an EU-China investment pact agreed at the end of 2020, after years of negotiations.
German government spokesman Ulrike Demmer said Merkel and Xi had discussed international efforts to produce and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, deepen economic cooperation and measures to protect the climate and biodiversity.
She said leaders had agreed to deepen bilateral ties in the Sino-German government consultations scheduled for the end of April.
“The chancellor stressed the importance of dialogue on the full range of links, including issues on which there are differing views,” Demmer said, without giving details about areas where Germany and China differ.
Reporting by Beijing and Michael Nienaber in Berlin; written by Tom Daly; Edited by Andrew Heavens, Steve Orlofsky and Timothy Heritage