The Foreign Ministry rejected reports that explain the highly unbalanced trade relationship between the two sides allegedly due to barriers imposed by Beijing on the bloc’s exports.

China has never deliberately sought a trade surplus, it exists under the combined influence of different industrial structures, specialization, forms of trade and external factors, the Foreign Ministry’s statement said.

According to the text, for years, most EU companies in China have benefited from bilateral trade so they have chosen to operate and expand business here.

“The EU’s restrictions on the exports of high-tech products to China in recent years have directly limited its ability to take advantage of the export potential to China and led to unbalanced trade between the two sides,” it added.

The Foreign Ministry urged the European bloc to lift export controls against China if it really wants to solve this problem.

On the subject, the General Administration of Customs of China reported on Tuesday that Beijing increased its foreign trade with countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Belt and Road Initiative, while it decreased with the United States and the European Union.

China’s trade with the United States declined 9.6 percent year-on-year and 0.1 percent with the European Union in the first seven months compared to the previous year.

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