The European Commission has cast aside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's suggestion to pursue a trade deal between the European Union and China, calling instead on Beijing to "meaningfully" address its distortive economic practices.
The bloc, like most developed economies, is struggling to contain a ballooning trade deficit with China, which has turned to low-cost exports to offset a persistent real estate crisis and sluggish consumer demand. The imbalance has raised serious concerns of unfair competition, industrial decline and mass unemployment across Europe.
