EU chief demands China address trade imbalance as tensions flare

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused China of distorting trade and limiting access for European firms two weeks ahead of a summit between the economic powers.

“If our partnership is to move forward, we need a genuine rebalancing: fewer market distortions, less overcapacity exported from China, and fair, reciprocal access for European businesses in China,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. 

Beijing has imposed export controls on rare earth magnets, hitting European Union industries hard and compounding an increasingly unbalanced trading relationship. The move has dashed signs of a thaw earlier this year between the EU and China because of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. 

China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The 27-member bloc imposed tariffs on electric vehicles over allegations Chinese producers benefit from unfair subsidies. The EU also excluded the country’s firms from public contracts for medical devices earlier in 2025, sparking a tit for tat retaliation from Beijing. 

“China invested early in many of the technologies of the future,” von der Leyen said. “But then it started flooding global markets with cheap, subsidized goods, to wipe out competitors.”

“Entire Western industries closed — from solar panels to mineral processing — leaving China to dominate,” the commission president said. 

Combined with a lack of progress over longstanding trade and economic issues, tensions have ramped up ahead of a summit between Brussels and Beijing planned for the second half of July. The Chinese government cancelled part of what was meant to be a two-day summit. 

“Goods and services that are ‘made in China’ get an automatic 20% price advantage in public bids,” von der Leyen said. “This is simply not fair. The system is explicitly rigged.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com