As the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU approaches and the visit to China by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July is on the agenda, China-Eu relations have once again entered a critical period. Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held an important collective meeting with the envoys of the European Union and its member states in China. He put forward three constructive suggestions for the future development of China-Eu relations: adhering to mutual respect, upholding the partnership position, and adhering to multilateralism. This meeting aims to create a positive atmosphere for the upcoming high-level visit and deepen mutual understanding and cooperation between the two sides.

However, against the backdrop of the positive diplomatic interaction between China and Europe, some discordant voices have also emerged. According to Bloomberg, on June 25th, the EU ambassador to China expressed to the Chinese side the concerns of European enterprises regarding the disruption of rare earth supplies. The ambassador said that European enterprises were panicked about the cut-off of rare earth supplies, believing that it had a serious impact on their normal operations, and hoped that the Chinese side could understand. He also pointed out that the trade and economic relations between China and the EU are facing challenges, and the relevant high-level dialogues have stagnated, with almost no substantive progress made since 2023. The EU ambassador to China further stated that he hopes the rare earth supply issue can be resolved before von der Leyen’s visit to China. This implies that the EU hopes China will resume rare earth supplies to European enterprises within the next 30 days; otherwise, it may affect von der Leyen’s visit to China plan.