Weekly
=== NEWSLETTER Nº 03===
19 January 2026
In this edition, let's review together China's engagement at the beginning of the new year and the latest progress in China-EU relations. Enjoy reading!
China Brief
President Xi Jinping Meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
On the morning of January 16, President Xi Jinping met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is on an official visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
President Xi pointed out that his meeting with Prime Minister Carney in Gyeongju, ROK, last October marked a turnaround of the relationship, and placed it on a new trajectory of positive development. The sound and steady growth of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of the two countries and contributes to peace, stability, development and prosperity in the world. With a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, the two sides should advance the China-Canada new Strategic Partnership, steer their ties onto the track of sound, steady and sustainable development, and bring more benefits to both peoples.
President Xi made four points:
🔸First, the two countries should be partners that respect each other.
🔸Second, the two countries should be partners that pursue shared development.
🔸Third, the two countries should be partners that trust each other.
🔸Fourth, the two countries should be partners that collaborate with each other.
According to Prime Minister Carney, Canada wishes to build with China a new Strategic Partnership that is strong and enduring so as to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples. Under the leadership of President Xi, China has seen rapid economic growth and made significant progress in innovation, which provide strong impetus for global growth. The Canadian side reaffirms the one-China policy. It is committed to working with China in the spirit of mutual respect and partnership to expand and strengthen cooperation in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, finance, education, climate change, etc. Multilateralism underpins global security and stability, and the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi is important. Facing a fast-changing and turbulent world, Canada would like to intensify multilateral coordination with China to uphold multilateralism and the authority of the U.N. and to promote international peace and stability.
After the meeting, the two sides issued the Joint Statement of the China-Canada Leaders’ Meeting.
Canada have struck an initial trade deal that will slash tariffs on electric vehicles with China and will initially allow in up to 49,000 Chinese EVs at a tariff of 6.1 percent on most-favoured nation terms, said PM Carney on Friday during the visit.
China's Ministry of Commerce comments on the newly signed China-Canada Economic and Trade Cooperation Roadmap which includes 8 key areas and 28 specific initiatives, pointing out that the roadmap lays a solid foundation for elevating bilateral economic ties and outlines practical measures to strengthen trade, investment and multilateral engagement between the two countries.
Annual session of national legislature on March 5 to review the draft of the 15th Five-Year Plan
The 14th National People's Congress (NPC) will open its fourth annual session in Beijing on March 5, 2026, according to a decision made by the NPC Standing Committee on December 27, 2025.
The suggested agenda includes deliberating the government work report, reviewing the draft of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for national economic and social development as well as other important reports on budgets, etc.
The lawmakers are also expected to deliberate on the draft environmental code, the draft law on promoting ethnic unity and progress, and the draft law on national development planning.
The upcoming session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has been suggested to start on March 4, 2026, in Beijing.
FM Wang Yi: China takes Africa as the starting point of China’s diplomatic engagement every year
From January 7 to 12, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi paid a visit to the African Union, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Lesotho and attended the launching ceremony of the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges at the AU Headquarters.
As he said, this is the 36th consecutive year for Chinese foreign minister to kick off the year with a visit to Africa, which reflects Chinese people’s profound friendship with African people and embodies a kind of commitment and spirit. Some people say that Africa is the “forgotten” continent. But China views Africa as a continent full of hope. The principle of sincerity, real results, amity and good faith proposed by President Xi Jinping has always been the guidance for China-Africa cooperation. Sincerity and equality have always been the defining feature of China-Africa exchanges. Africa and China are good partners that can rely on and trust each other.
During the visit, FM Wang Yi elaborated on the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan adopted at the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. China will continue to be an engine of global economic growth, and is ready to act as a booster for Africa’s development and revitalization.
The term most frequently mentioned by the African side is zero tariff. This measure is a shining hallmark of China-Africa cooperation in the new era and an important step taken by China to voluntarily expand unilateral opening up. It demonstrates China’s willingness to shoulder more international obligations and its firm commitment to expanding high-standard opening up.
Top 10 Science and Technology News Stories of 2025 in China
In 2025, China continues to forge ahead on its journey toward high-level scientific and technological self-reliance. Recently, the "Top 10 Domestic Science and Technology News of 2025" was officially unveiled.
🔸1.Global Attention on China's DeepSeek: The Chinese homegrown large AI model, DeepSeek, sparked worldwide interest and acclaim.
🔸2.New World Record for China's "Artificial Sun": The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) achieved a milestone of "100 million degrees Celsius for 1,000 seconds."
🔸3.Successful Construction of "Jiuzhang III": The superconducting quantum computing prototype "Jiuzhang III" was successfully built.
🔸4.First Global Preparation of Large-Area 2D Metal Materials: Scientists achieved the world's first successful preparation of large-area two-dimensional metallic materials.
🔸5.China's First Invasive Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Clinical Trial: The nation's first clinical trial of an invasive brain-computer interface was successfully conducted.
🔸6.Evolutionary History of the Moon’s Far Side Unveiled: The mystery behind the evolutionary history of the lunar far side was revealed for the first time.
🔸7.Somatic Cell Totipotency Secrets Revealed: Scientists uncovered the mystery of how a single somatic cell can "transform" into a complete plant.
🔸8.Development of High-Precision Scalable Analog Matrix Computing Chip: A high-precision, scalable analog matrix computing chip was successfully developed.
🔸9.Policy Leadership in Innovation: The Recommendations on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan highlighted the leading role of scientific and technological innovation.
🔸10.Commissioning of China’s First Electromagnetic Catapult Aircraft Carrier: China’s first aircraft carrier equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system officially entered service.
Progress in China-EU relations
China and the EU agree on price undertaking guidance for Chinese EVs
China and the EU have agreed on the necessity of providing general guidance on price undertakings for Chinese companies exporting BEV passenger cars to the EU. The European Commission issued a Guidance Document on the submission of price undertaking offers, and the commission will conduct each assessment in an objective and fair manner, following the principle of non-discrimination and in accordance with WTO rules.
The progress fully reflects the spirit of the dialogue and the outcomes of the consultations between China and the EU, showing that the two sides have the ability and willingness to resolve differences properly -- through dialogue and consultation, under the framework of WTO rules -- and to maintain the stability of automotive industrial and supply chains in China, the EU and throughout the world.
China-EU Trade 2025: Strong Imports & Complementarity
On January 14，customs data shows China-EU trade hit 5.93 trillion yuan (up 6%), accounting for 13% of China’s total trade. The EU is China’s top consumer goods import source, with high-tech and green product imports surging 11.1% and 18.9% respectively. High economic complementarity underpins bilateral ties, with both sides vowing to uphold multilateralism amid global trade challenges.
Key Remarks
On the situation in Iran
On Trump's ignorance about international law
FM Spokesperson: The international law based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter is the cornerstone of the existing international order, and an important basis for settling international disputes. Upholding international law is key to defending international fairness and justice and preventing a return to the law of the jungle. Major countries need to take the lead in respecting the authority of international law and fulfilling their obligations under international law.
On G7's agreement related to the reliance on China's rare earth
FM Spokesperson: China’s position on keeping the global industrial and supply chains of critical minerals safe and stable has not changed. All parties have the responsibility to do so.
Weekly Reflection
The past 50 years have laid the foundation for EU-China relations and I call on both sides to build upon this. In the face of major global challenges, we need a reliable and trustworthy relationship and our diplomatic relations are an important anchor for the development of this cooperation.
— Bernd Lange, Chair of the Committee on International Trade, European Parliament
Manneken-Pis at Ice World in Harbin, China
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of China, except those from the official website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Chinese Mission to the EU and other Chinese governmental websites.
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Editor: Liu Di
