As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China\u2019s firms in the European Union have been forced to walk a delicate tightrope: expanding their presence in the lucrative market while grappling with heightened regulatory hurdles and rapid geopolitical shifts. In the second part of this three-part series, we look at whether China and the EU are heading for a full-blown trade conflict.<\/p>\n
Last week, Beijing gathered more than a dozen Chinese companies in Berlin for a forum with a single purpose: showcasing China\u2019s appetite for German exports.<\/p>\n
Politicians and executives from both countries crowded into a meeting hall at the headquarters of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where China\u2019s vice-minister of commerce, Ling Ji, pitched the promise of China\u2019s vast market.<\/p>\n
The event \u2013 titled \u201cBig Market to All, Export to China\u201d \u2013 is part of a campaign China launched last year to promote imports from its major trading partners and, in its words, \u201csafeguard the multilateral free trade system\u201d.<\/p>\n
In reality, the effort is likely also a response to a wider issue: China\u2019s ballooning trade surplus, which is triggering growing angst in countries across the European Union \u2013 and could even push the two sides into a full-blown trade conflict.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s trade surplus reached a record US$1.19 trillion<\/a> last year, and its exports continue to far outstrip imports. In the first five months of 2026, shipments to Germany soared by 17.3 per cent year on year, while imports from Germany rose just 1.5 per cent, according to Chinese customs data.The growing imbalance has sparked alarm in Europe, with some warning of a looming \u201cChina shock 2.0\u201d<\/a> that could decimate local industry. That has put Brussels \u2013 which is already locked in a dispute with Beijing over a string of recent policies targeting unfair trade practices \u2013 under pressure to introduce even stronger protections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China\u2019s firms in the European Union have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[954,2880,18,400,9566,11844,89,69,172,13516,13517,10884,7073,3576,1711],"class_list":["post-21821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-beijing","tag-berlin","tag-brussels","tag-china","tag-china-chamber-of-commerce-to-the-eu","tag-chinese-commerce-minister-wang-wentao","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-germany","tag-industrial-accelerator-act","tag-jacob-gunter","tag-ling-ji","tag-mercator-institute-for-china-studies","tag-south-china-morning-post","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116763242371770175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}