The European Union’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic intends to visit China at the end of March, according to people familiar with the plan.
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It will mark his first trip to Beijing as commissioner for trade and economic security and comes after a maiden visit last week to Washington, where he made initial contacts with the Trump administration’s top trade and commerce officials.
Sefcovic, a veteran commissioner who took on a new portfolio in December, will meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Wang invited the Slovakian to China earlier this year, but it is understood Sefcovic delayed because he wanted to visit the US first.
Now that this has been completed, Sefcovic is ready for a sit down with Wang to discuss the many grievances in the bilateral relationship.
In recent years trade ties have frayed with Europe frustrated by Beijing’s unwillingness to acknowledge and address the industrial overcapacity in its system. Brussels claims that this results in cheap exports arriving in the EU and endangering local industries.
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