The EU believes China wants to use the summit to press home President Xi Jinping’s vigorous defense of open trade and global ties at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, in response to the new U.S. President Donald Trump.
“With an early summit, China wants to send a message to the United States that it has friends in Europe,” said one official, who helps formulate EU policy.
The EU, on the other hand, wants to solicit China’s vocal support for international institutions such as the United Nations, which Trump chided and Russia bypassed in securing a ceasefire in Syria through direct talks with Iran and Turkey.
“With this drive by some countries to undermine or weaken international institutions, we would want to see China supporting and believing in the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation,” a second EU official said.
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