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RIYADH: The EU and China will hold a high-level economic and trade dialogue on Tuesday amidst tensions over a number of issues including the war in Ukraine, Xinjiang and an as yet unratified investment agreement.
“I look forward to co-chairing this important event together with China Vice-Premier Liu He,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the EU Commission.
The dialogue will be virtual and will take place in the afternoon Beijing time on Tuesday, Western diplomatic sources told Reuters.
The last round of such dialogue was in July 2020 and was also led by Dombrovskis and Liu.
US wants to end dependence on China rare earths: Yellen
The US wants to end its “undue dependence” on rare earths, solar panels and other key goods from China to prevent Beijing from cutting off supplies as it has done to other countries, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
Yellen, who arrived in Seoul late on Monday, told Reuters she was pushing for increased trade ties with South Korea and other trusted allies to improve the resilience of supply chains and avert possible manipulation by geopolitical rivals.
“Resilient supply chains mean a diversity of sources of supply and eliminating to the extent we can the possibility that geopolitical rivals will be able to manipulate us and threaten our security,” she said in an interview en route to Seoul.