On April 18, Beijing hosted the 7th European Union-China Strategic Dialogue which was chaired by Federica Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, with Chinese State Councilor, Yang Jiechi. The meeting came ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled to take place in Beijing in mid-May and the EU-China annual Summit scheduled for Brussels in June.

The agenda of the discussions encompassed topics such as trade, investment, innovation, people-to-people exchanges and other areas, according to a press release published by the Chinese government. Both sides agreed to work with each other on the Hamburg G20 Summit, the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Some voices claimed that the Strategic Dialogue Meeting was just one of multiple steps China has taken in its “charm offensive” with the EU, with the intent to charm America’s European allies in the context of new U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America first” protectionist policy. This was the first high-level encounter between the EU and China parties since the November U.S. presidential election.

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This article has been published by Valentina Crivăț, Fellow at RISAP, in The Diplomat. You can read the full article in The Diplomat.