Caixin (June 11) reported that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will meet with European Union leaders online during the week starting June 22, clearing the way for a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of the 27-country bloc previously scheduled for September in Leipzig, Germany. It said in the online meetings, Li Keqiang will confer with leaders of EU institutions including Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and Charles Michel of the European Council. Steffen Seibert, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, said last week that the European Union and China agreed to postpone the special summit, without elaborating on the details. The two sides are expected to address their overall relationship and aim to make progress on bilateral investment treaty talks. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a press conference on June 1, that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and EU High Representative Josep Borrell will hold the 10th China-EU High Level Strategic Dialogue online June 2, in preparation for the June conference and will “discuss China-EU relations and matters of shared interest.”

(Comment: China and the EU have made efforts to reschedule their high-level dialogues amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The leadership meeting was scheduled to take place in March in Beijing.)