This edition highlights the latest news from China, exchanges between China and the EU, and China-EU trade relations. Enjoy reading!

Important News 

President Xi Jinping Sends Congratulatory Letter to the 140th China Import and Export Fair

On October 14, 2026, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 140th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair).

President Xi pointed out that since its inception 70 years ago, the Canton Fair has played an important role in promoting trade between China and other countries, and has become an effective platform for China to expand high-standard opening up and to advance the building of an open world economy. Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to join hands with countries around the world to jointly uphold the multilateral trading system, maintain the stability and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains, expand the space for mutually beneficial international economic and trade cooperation, advance a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and continue to inject new impetus into global development and prosperity.

President Xi Jinping Stresses Prioritizing Ecological Conservation and Pursuing Green Development

President Xi Jinping emphasized the need to unswervingly follow the path of prioritizing ecological conservation and pursuing green development on Friday in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

He stressed the need to fully implement China's wetland protection law, firmly uphold ecological red lines, and safeguard biodiversity. For degraded wetland ecosystems, he called for giving priority to natural restoration, supplemented by human intervention, and carrying out restoration in a scientific and sound manner.

 Premier Li Qiang Attends the Opening Ceremony of the 140th China Import and Export Fair

Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the 140th China Import and Export Fair and delivered a keynote speech.

🔷 China is committed to promoting the continuous integration and common growth of its domestic market and the international market, and building an open world economy.

🔷 China is willing to import more high-quality products, especially high-value-added products, and hopes that more countries will work with China in the same direction, lift restrictions and actively promote the optimized and balanced development of trade.

🔷 China will always be a trustworthy and reliable good friend of developing countries, and is willing to join hands with the vast number of developing countries on the journey to modernization.

(Read the full text of his speech.)

China-EU Exchanges 

Vice Premier He Lifeng Meets French President's Diplomatic Adviser Emmanuel Bonne

Vice Premier He Lifeng met with French President's Diplomatic Adviser Emmanuel Bonne in Beijing on October 13.

Noting that China and the EU are important economic and trade partners, Vice Premier He said that China is willing to continue dialogue with the EU in the economic and trade field to inject more stability and positive energy into the development of China-EU economic and trade relations.

Bonne said that France attaches great importance to economic cooperation with China and is willing to work with China to continuously achieve positive results in the China-EU trade and investment consultations, and maintain the stable development of economic and trade relations between the two sides.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi Visits Croatia

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on October 16. The two sides exchanged views on China-Europe relations.

Wang noted that there is no fundamental conflict of interests between China and the EU, and that the two sides can help each other succeed and achieve common prosperity. Regarding the EU's concerns over China's trade surplus, he said that the surplus is a result of market demand and the international division of labor. China and the EU are partners, not adversaries, and should pursue cooperation rather than confrontation. Recent progress under the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism shows that the two sides can find mutually beneficial solutions as long as they remain committed to dialogue and consultation.

Milanovic said that Croatia, as an EU member, adheres to the bloc's common foreign and security policy while striving to maintain its own independence. On current economic and trade disputes between China and the EU, he said that he shares China's position and believes that China's strong competitiveness stems mainly from an efficient, comprehensive system for organizing production. He expressed belief that the two sides will resolve development-related issues through communication and dialogue and find solutions satisfactory to all parties.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with FM Wang Yi on October 17. The two sides exchanged views on China-EU economic and trade relations. 

Plenkovic said that participants at the recent EU summit spoke positively of the consensus reached through the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism and expressed hope that the two sides would continue to strengthen communication and dialogue to properly address their differences.

Wang said that trade issues between China and the EU stem from the international division of labor and market demand. Imports of high-quality, competitively priced Chinese goods benefit European consumers and help curb inflation, reflecting demand in the European market, and there is no so-called "overcapacity" problem. China is willing to import more high-value-added products from Europe and hopes the EU will ease restrictions on exports to China. China is committed to promoting balanced growth in bilateral trade, with both sides moving forward rather than backward and expanding shared benefits rather than diminishing them. China is ready to strengthen dialogue with the EU on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, jointly uphold free trade and advance open and inclusive economic globalization.

FM Wang Yi held talks with Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman on October 16.

Emphasizing that China and the EU share extensive common interests, Wang said that both sides advocate multilateralism, uphold the central and leading role of the United Nations and are committed to resolving international and regional disputes through political dialogues. China and Europe also share common ground on global issues such as climate change. 

Recent progress at the second meeting of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism has shown that bilateral differences can be resolved through dialogues on an equal footing. China is willing to deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU and hopes that Croatia, as an EU member, will play a constructive role in advancing China-EU relations.

Radman said that China has played an important role in maintaining world peace and stability. As key partners, the EU and China share responsibility to jointly safeguard international order and promote global security and development.

Ambassador Cai Run Attends Forum on the Seminar on Global Governance at the European Parliament and Elaborates on the Global Governance Initiative

On 14 October 2026, Ambassador Cai Run, Head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, attended the Seminar on the Future of Global Governance at the European Parliament and delivered a speech, elaborating on the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) proposed by President Xi Jinping.

Ambassador Cai noted that President Xi Jinping proposed the GGI in light of the prevailing trends of our times. The Initiative provides Chinese wisdom and solutions for building a more just and equitable global governance system and a community with a shared future for humanity. The concepts and propositions of the GGI are consistent with the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. The GGI has strengthened the international community’s confidence and resolve in upholding multilateralism and improving global governance, injecting greater stability and positive energy into a turbulent and uncertain world.

Ambassador Cai stressed that multilateralism is the greatest unifying consensus between China and the EU. China stands ready to work with the EU to implement the important common understandings reached by the leaders of both sides, strengthen communication, dialogue, coordination and cooperation, and jointly contribute to improving global governance.

(Read the full text of his speech.)

China-EU Trade Relations

Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Ling Ji Meets the CEO of DHL Group

Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative met with Tobias Meyer, CEO of Germany-based logistics giant DHL Group, on October 15.

Ling said the Chinese government remains firmly committed to high-standard opening up and is accelerating the building of a unified national market with an efficient, modern logistics network, which will provide broader development opportunities for Chinese and foreign logistics companies, including DHL. The second meeting of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism has produced a series of consensus and outcomes that provide stability and certainty for business cooperation between Chinese and European companies.

Meyer expressed confidence in the Chinese market, saying DHL is stepping up its investment in China and willing to contribute to the stable and healthy development of Germany-China and EU-China economic and trade relations.

Spokespersons' Remarks

On the China-EU understandings reached in consultations on hybrid vehicles and BEVs

MOFCOM Spokesperson: China and the EU have maintained dialogue under the TIC and reached multiple deliverables and understandings. This is conducive to maintaining a stable and balanced key trading partnership. Following the principles of mutual respect and equal consultation, the two sides held intensive consultations on trade in hybrid vehicles and BEVs, and handled economic and trade differences and each other’s concerns in a balanced manner. 

On hybrid vehicles, the two sides emphasized and confirmed three basic principles. The first is respect for facts. According to Eurostat data, the EU imported 107,000 hybrid vehicles from China in 2024 and 302,000 in 2025. The two sides reached an upward arrangement that provides for upward adjustion on the basis of 2025 figures, ensuring room for exports and stable growth for Chinese enterprises and accommodating the reasonable industry concerns of the two sides in light of actual conditions. The second is non-discrimination. No measure will specifically target Chinese products, still less will any measure discriminate against Chinese enterprises. The quota granted to China will not be lower than the quota for any other source of imports into the EU. The third is compliance. The two sides confirmed that the trade arrangement should comply with WTO rules. China reserves all rights under the WTO framework, including the right to resort to dispute settlement and to seek trade compensation. These three basic principles have been applied throughout the entire process and constitute a solid foundation for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

On BEVs, China and the EU achieved a soft landing in the anti-subsidy case in January this year, and the EU issued the guidance document on price undertakings. In this connection, the EU will continue to advance the procedures related to corporate price undertakings in the BEV case, as well as other review procedures.

On the basis of reciprocity and mutual benefit, the above-mentioned understandings have effectively safeguarded the practical interests of Chinese enterprises, avoided escalation of China-EU trade frictions, and provided a stable, predictable and sustainable trade and investment environment for the both sides, contributing to the stable, balanced and sound development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

On promoting trade in dual-use items

MOFCOM Spokesperson: China is ready to work with the EU to continue to leverage the role of the export control dialogue mechanism and promote the development of bilateral trade in dual-use items.

China is willing to continue to provide facilitation for the approval of rare earth export licenses to the EU, and hopes the EU will offer facilitation for the reciprocal resolution of key licensing cases concerning China in the dual-use field.

On reports of the EU’s potential new trade powers against China

MFA Spokesperson: China-EU economic and trade relations are win-win in nature. The success of the recent second meeting of the China-EU Trade and Investment Consultation fully proves that the two sides can properly handle differences through dialogue. We hope that the EU will honor its commitments on freedom and openness, follow the WTO rules, steer clear of protectionist and discriminatory policies and measures, and walk toward the same direction with China to jointly promote the upward balance and sustainable development of China-EU trade, and keep the global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded.

 GACC: China-EU Trade Grows Steadily in the First Three Quarters of 2026

Total China-EU trade in goods surged 8.4% year-on-year to reach 4.78 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2026, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) on October 14.

This robust bilateral performance reflects the deep resilience of bilateral economic relations. By continuously expanding imports, China offers substantial market access for high-quality European products. Moving forward, both sides hold solid potential for deeper cooperation across manufacturing, agriculture and the green economy as they work to advance mutual market openness.

China in Brief

China's R&D Spending Up 8.2 Pct in 2025

China's research and development expenditure rose 8.2 percent year on year to 3.93 trillion yuan (about 584.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Over the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China's R&D spending rose at an average annual rate of 10 percent, and China now ranks as the world's second-largest R&D investor, said Luo Qiushi, an NBS statistician.

China's R&D intensity, which measures spending as a share of GDP, rose 0.11 percentage points to 2.8 percent last year, exceeding the OECD average of 2.72 percent for the first time and ranking 12th in the world.

In 2025, the growth rate of funding for basic research exceeded that of R&D expenditure by 5.1 percentage points, maintaining double-digit growth momentum. Currently, China ranks second globally in total funding for basic research.

Shanghai Wins 1st WIPO City of Innovation Award

Chinese city Shanghai, Britain's Liverpool and Belgium's Charleroi were announced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as winners of the first WIPO City of Innovation award on October 12.

WIPO highlighted Shanghai's vision of strengthening its position as an international hub for science, technology and intellectual property (IP), while fostering a broader culture of innovation and creativity.

Weekly Quote 

Visual Highlight

 🔸The "China Haul" trend is gaining traction on social media worldwide. More and more international visitors are traveling to China not only to explore tourist attractions, but also to shop for Chinese products.

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: LI Mo