EU Trade Chief Rules Out China Decoupling The EU will not cut economic ties with China – one of its biggest trade partners – but needs to protect itself, the European Commission’s executive vice president said on Saturday, addressing the annual Bund Summit in Shanghai. Valdis Dombrovskis, who is also Brussels’ trade commissioner, described relations between the EU and China as “very unbalanced,” as Europe recorded a trade deficit of almost €400 billion ($427 billion) in 2022, while total import-export flows exceeded €865 billion, an all-time high. “De-risking is not decoupling. And the EU has no intention of decoupling from China,” the official explained, adding that the bloc “also needs to protect itself in situations when its openness is abused.” His comments came from a high-stakes discussion with Chinese leaders, including vice-premier He Lifeng, scheduled for next week in Beijing. Subscribe to RT