EU, China parliaments aim to hold their first talks in 7 years on October 16

The first official meeting between the European Parliament and China’s National People’s Congress for seven years is slated for October 16, confirming a continued thaw in relations between the two chambers.

The meeting has been in the works for months since the sides moved to lift restrictions on each other, but it was confirmed by the European Conference of Presidents last week, with invitations to be sent from Brussels imminently.

Sources familiar with the arrangement said the leadership group approved the first joint session since 2018, proposed for the morning of October 16, with a Chinese delegation set to travel to Brussels.

The agenda is also pending confirmation, with German lawmaker Engin Eroglu set to lead talks on the European side. It is expected that this meeting will set in motion a biannual exchange, with MEPs set to travel to Beijing in May 2026 for a return leg.

The meeting will cap a remarkable turnaround in relations between the two chambers, which until last year were at loggerheads in line with a general deterioration in ties between the EU and China.

Sanctions were exchanged in March 2021, with the European Parliament slapping visa restrictions and asset freezes on a series of Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.