Head of MOFCOM Department of European Affairs Elaborates on Outcomes of the Second Meeting of the China-EU Trade and Investment Consultations

Both sides reaffirmed their framing as 'stable and balanced key trading partners' and committed to handling economic and trade differences under WTO rules; the second TIC is described as a 'new starting point', with a third ministerial meeting scheduled for March 2027 and a ministerial video conference in January.

On market access, the two sides held intensive consultations on medical devices, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, inverters and agri-food products, and agreed to use the trade monitoring mechanism to explore possible tariff reductions for certain goods within the WTO framework.

The EU agreed to a technical dialogue with China on its Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), and both sides will keep exchanging views on medical device and agricultural market access, the EU's guidance on financing for inverter projects, and cosmetics and pharmaceutical regulation.

On vehicles, the two sides discussed battery electric vehicles and hybrids with the aim of preventing escalation; they reviewed the agreed guidance document on price undertakings in the BEV anti-subsidy case, and the EU will advance procedures for enterprise price undertakings and reviews.

On export controls, the EU will continue pushing to resolve priority dual-use licence applications for China, the two sides will explore mutual facilitation measures for compliant dual-use trade, and they agreed to support and substantially initiate reciprocal delisting procedures within their respective legal frameworks.

On IPR and WTO reform, the China-EU Intellectual Property Working Group will remain the main channel with agreed milestones, and both sides will hold open, constructive talks on WTO reform while flagging cooperation potential in new energy, AI, services trade, the digital economy and green development.