European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday that the European Union has to boost trade ties with China and other states in the Asia-Pacific region to be consistent with the new reality.

During a briefing, Dombrovskis said that "It’s clear that EU-China relations are increasingly complex, but there is a clear view that engagement with China is essential, so we have to be able to talk to one of our biggest trading partners also about difficult issues."
 
According to him, the EU is looking to shift its bilateral ties, which necessitates finalizing the current deals and creating new ones. 
 
"To bolster our bilateral agenda we need to get over the finish line our agreements, which have already been negotiated, like Chili, Mexico, or MERCOSUR. These are important deals with a large potential for generating mutual benefits. We also need to advance ongoing negotiations for new deals, notably New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, and India," he added. 
 
China, the EU's most important trading partner, accounted for 16.2% of total EU trade in 2021, with Beijing corresponding for 22.3% of total European imports and 10.3% of exports. The relations between China and the EU deteriorated in late 2021 after Beijing decided to downgrade the bilateral ties with Vilnius over its ties with Taiwan.