Chinese President Xi Jinping has turned down an invitation to attend a summit in Brussels celebrating the 50th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations, according to the Financial Times on Sunday.

Beijing informed EU officials that Premier Li Qiang would meet with the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission instead of Xi, the FT reported, citing two sources who wished to remain anonymous. The Chinese premier typically attends the summit when it's held in Brussels, while the Chinese president hosts it when it's in Beijing. However, the EU wants President Xi Jinping to attend this time to mark 50 years of relations between China and the EU, according to the newspaper.

Tensions between the EU and China have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, with the EU accusing China of supporting Moscow, the Financial Times reported. Last year, the European Union imposed tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China. Both China’s Foreign Ministry and the EU did not respond immediately to Reuters' requests for comment. An EU official told the newspaper that "informal discussions are ongoing, both about setting the date for the EU-China summit this year and the level of representation." Meanwhile, the Chinese ministry was described as stating that it had no information to provide on the subject.

China, the world's second-largest economy, and the European Union, the third-largest, spent much of 2024 accusing each other of unfair trade practices. The disputes mainly involved concerns about overproduction, illegal subsidies, and selling goods at unfairly low prices in each other's markets. In October, the European Union introduced high tariffs on electric vehicles made in China following an investigation into unfair subsidies. This was in addition to the EU's usual 10% import duty on cars. In response, China strongly objected to the move and imposed stricter entry conditions for some EU products, including brandy.