Brussels currently lacks the firepower to win a trade clash with China – and Beijing is not in a mood to make concessions, analysts warn
6-MIN READ6-MINXiaofei Xuin ParisPublished: 6:00am, 17 Jun 2026Updated: 6:04am, 17 Jun 2026As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China’s 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.
Last week, Beijing gathered more than a dozen Chinese companies in Berlin for a forum with a single purpose: showcasing China’s appetite for German exports.
Politicians and executives from both countries crowded into a meeting hall at the headquarters of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where China’s vice-minister of commerce, Ling Ji, pitched the promise of China’s vast market.
The event – titled “Big Market to All, Export to China” – is part of a campaign China launched last year to promote imports from its major trading partners and, in its words, “safeguard the multilateral free trade system”.
In reality, the effort is likely also a response to a wider issue: China’s ballooning trade surplus, which is triggering growing angst in countries across the European Union – and could even push the two sides into a full-blown trade conflict.
