Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleChina seeks to enhance cooperation with the ECB amid global trade tensions, focusing on monetary reform and market connectivity.
BEIJING (Reuters) -China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the European Central Bank (ECB), including on reforming the international monetary system, Premier Li Qiang told ECB President Christine Lagarde at a meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
Lagarde is on a rare visit to Beijing this week as both China and the European Union are embroiled in trade tensions with the United States, following President Donald Trump's imposition of sweeping tariffs on most nations.
"Against a backdrop of growing resistance to globalisation, only cooperation can bring mutual benefits," China's state broadcaster CCTV reported Li as saying.
China and the EU should promote open cooperation and maintain multilateral coordination, Li said, adding that Beijing was willing to enhance market connectivity and industrial synergy with the bloc.
Lagarde also met China's central bank governor Pan Gongsheng on Wednesday. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation, and agreed to establish an annual meeting mechanism between the governors of the two central banks, according to a statement from the People's Bank of China.
Following his return to the White House in January, Trump's decision to impose tariffs has shifted the contours of global trade and poses challenges for the global economy.
Chinese exports to the 27-nation EU rose 12.0% year-on-year in May, while sales to the United States dropped by 34.5%. China's exports to Germany and France, the bloc's largest economies, grew by more than 20%, while China's imports from the EU were flat.
Lagarde's visit came as China and the EU seek to ease friction in their trade ties, with Beijing delaying a verdict earlier this week on a high-profile investigation into imported pork from the EU.
The two sides have also been closing in on a deal to resolve disputes over EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Beijing has already extended its anti-dumping investigation into EU brandy and offered to speed up rare earth magnet export licences for European firms.
(Reporting by Ethan Wang, Shi Bu, Ellen Zhang, Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Gareth Jones)
Premier Li Qiang stated that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the European Central Bank, including on reforming the international monetary system.
Lagarde's visit comes amid ongoing trade tensions between China, the European Union, and the United States, particularly following President Trump's tariffs.
Chinese exports to the EU rose by 12.0% year-on-year in May, while exports to the United States dropped by 34.5%.
Lagarde and Pan Gongsheng signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation and agreed to establish an annual meeting mechanism between the ECB and China's central bank.
China and the EU are working to ease trade friction, including delaying a verdict on an investigation into imported pork from the EU and negotiating over tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
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