China seeks Austria's help in easing China-EU tensions

BEIJING, June 25 (Reuters) - China and ‌Austria should ​respect each ​other's "core interests" and work to improve China-EU ties, Beijing's top diplomat told his Austrian counterpart on Thursday, as disputes over trade, ‌market access and Russia strain relations with Brussels.

"The correct positioning of ⁠China-Europe relations is as partners, not rivals," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting ‌with Austria's Beate Meinl-Reisinger in ‌Beijing, an official Chinese readout showed.

The Austrian foreign minister is on a five-day visit to China — and for her third meeting in a year ​with Wang — at a time when Beijing is seeking direct channels with individual European capitals amid wobbly China-EU relations.

Last week, EU officials said views were ⁠gradually converging among the bloc's 27 members on the need to curb its widening trade deficit with ​China and reduce its reliance on Beijing for rare earths and other critical supplies.

China's goods trade surplus with the EU hit €360.6 ​billion ($410.29 billion) in 2025, up 15% from ‌2024. But EU members have differing views on how to respond.

Countries including France favour a firmer approach, while Germany, the ⁠bloc's largest exporter, and Spain, which has drawn growing Chinese investment, have taken a more cautious stance.

Austria appears to lean toward the cautious side, as some Chinese automakers including ⁠Xpeng look to Austrian contract manufacturers as a foothold for European production.

Around 650 Austrian firms ​also operate in China.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Meinl-Reisinger said Austria's approach to China is "consistent, pragmatic, and European."

"Our aim is to strengthen European sovereignty, free ourselves from dependencies, ‌and at the same time maintain stable trade relations with China based on fair, reliable, and rules-based conditions," she ‌wrote.

During Thursday's meeting, Wang said Beijing "appreciates Austria's rational and pragmatic policy toward China".

The country "hopes ⁠Austria can continue to play a ‌constructive role for the ​development of China-Europe relations," he added.

($1 = 0.8789 euros)

(Reporting by Xiuhao Chen, Shi Bu and Liz Lee, Editing by William Maclean and ‌Andrew Heavens)

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