The European Union wants Beijing to take more action to resolve currency and other disputes, the EU's ambassador to China warned today, suggesting Brussels may reconsider its relatively co-operative approach.
Serge Abou said the EU had told Beijing it hoped to see movement on a range of policies, from government subsidies for domestic industry to market access barriers for European imports - as well as the sensitive question of the yuan's exchange rate.
Serge Abou EU ambassador to China
"We asked the Chinese government for some correction, some policy changes, and we do not see a significant answer," Mr Abou told reporters this morning.
The EU's frustration is mounting in tandem with its trade deficit with China, which reached €130 billion ($184 billion) last year.
Mr Abou said it would probably grow another 20-25 per cent this year.
"It is certain that these facts are considered with a certain bitterness in our leadership, and that we would like a real debate on these issues," he said.
Mr Abou said Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson felt let down that the EU's fairly non-confrontational approach to trade disputes over the past few years - in contrast to the more forceful methods of the United States - had not produced results.
"He's not yet angry, but is strongly disappointed," Mr Abou said. "It is politically significant because Mandelson is one of the best friends of China in Europe."
The EU, like the United States, has regularly cautioned China about the dangers of protectionism unless it does more in areas such as defending intellectual property rights.
But the EU has not joined some of the US complaints at the World Trade Organisation and has been less vocal on the hot-button issue of the yuan.