AFP

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Friday that "common trust" between the bloc and China had been "eroded".

"Trust is at the core of any human relationship, and... common trust has been eroded," Borrell told an audience at Peking University in the Chinese capital.

"We have to work to rebuild this trust," he said.

"It will not come back miraculously," he added. "It has to be restored."

Borrell arrived in China on Thursday, looking to manage the bloc's "de-risking" strategy with its largest trading partner while laying the foundations for a planned summit this year.

The visit comes just days after war broke out between Israel and Hamas, prompting Borrell to assemble an emergency meeting of European foreign ministers. China has called on all parties to "cease fire".

Borrell's trip, which was postponed twice this year and is expected to last until Saturday, started in Shanghai with a meeting with European companies on economic and business challenges, described by Borrell as an "inspiring exchange".

"We must address these challenges because neither we nor China can ignore each other's market," he wrote on social media.

And on Friday he stressed that the trade imbalance between the bloc and China "is not only quantitative, but also qualitative".

"It affects sectors in which we enjoy a comparative advantage... we believe that the problem is not rooted in a simple difference in productivity," he added.

"To my mind, to our mind, the cause is the result of persistent difficulties experienced by European companies when they want to gain access to the Chinese market," he said.

AFP