European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stepped up his criticism of Chinese trade practices just days after President Xi Jinping sought to soothe European concerns in Paris.
At the March 26 meeting, held together with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the EU side explained that “it can’t stay like this, that Chinese companies have free access to our markets in Europe, but we don’t to the markets in China,” Juncker told lawmakers in the German state of Saarland on Monday.
He also said Chinese investments in the continent can make it harder in the EU to agree on foreign policy. “One country isn’t able to condemn Chinese human rights policy because Chinese investors are involved in one of their ports,” Juncker said. “It can’t work like this.”
