Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is set to visit Kazakhstan and Tajikistan to enhance diplomatic relations and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin announced at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
At the invitation of Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, and Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and pay official visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan from May 18 to 21.
"Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are China's friendly neighbors and important partners in the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Under the strategic leadership of President Xi Jinping, (Kazakh) President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and (Tajik) President Emomali Rahmon, China's bilateral relations with the two countries have maintained high-level development, and the bilateral efforts are under way to build a community with a shared future," Wang noted.
"During the visit, Wang will meet with leaders of the two countries, hold talks with their foreign ministers, and exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of common interest concerning international and regional matters," said the spokesman.
"China believes that this visit will fully implement the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping with the heads of state of the two countries, deepen cooperation in various fields, promote cooperation on the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and make new contributions to maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region," Wang said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Kazakhstan, Tajikistan
Ongoing trade tensions between Europe and China over Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) are raising concerns about the potential damage this could to valuable China-EU trade ties in other sectors.
The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, decided in early July that provisional tariffs of up to 37.6 percent would be slapped on Chinese-made EVs.
On August 20, the commission published a draft plan to make those tariffs definitive, at slightly revised rates, subject to approval by European Union member states.
According to the disclosed information, the anti-subsidy tax rates for the three sampled Chinese EV companies, BYD, Geely, and SAIC, are 17.0 percent, 19.3 percent, and 36.3 percent, respectively.
Some European countries like Germany and Spain have criticized the measures, fearing a possible trade war with China.
Some residents in Paris, capital city of France, also shared their views on the EV dispute with a China Global Television Network (CGTN) reporter.
"I'm not too interested in electric cars. I hear from people who say that when they drive electric cars, they lose a lot of range very quickly. Also, it's not easy to recharge cars on freeways either," said a resident.
"If China is ever taxed on electric vehicles in the European market, they could do the same thing and take market share away from us on some of the European and especially French products. France has a strong international presence in the spirits and luxury goods sector. So there's a risk," said another man.
There have been warnings from some French exporters that the tariffs against China in auto sector could end up having a negative impact on another industry - cognac.
China launched its own investigation earlier this year into European wine-based liquors.
French brands constitute 99 percent of China's cognac imports raising concerns among some French cognac producers.
"First of all, I believe that they will try to sell more in the European market, and in France particularly. I believe that a lot of big houses of cognac will still stand in the market, however, the small houses will just die because they will not be able to sell their product any more,” said Clara Punch, manager of a cognac company in France.
European residents express concerns on EU's tariff policy against China
