China commits to halving EU hybrid car exports after trade talks

After two days of negotiations with Chinese envoys in Beijing, the European Union trade chief announces they've reached an understanding on moderating China's hybrid car exports to the bloc and continuing relevant procedures concerning companies' price undertakings and reviews in the EU's anti-subsidy case.

They also agree on exploring tariff cuts on certain goods to improve access to Chinese market for EU products. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic says: "I very much appreciate the commitment of the Minister that we are ready to work together on balancing the trade between China and the European Union in the case of hybrids and plug-in hybrids. We are talking about reducing the exports from China to the European Union over four years by several million cars, which I think it's pretty significant."

Sefcovic says: "We have reached a shared understanding to improve access to Chinese market for a series of EU products through the lower most favoured nations - MFN tariffs."

Officials reaffirm they will properly handle their differences under the World Trade Organization framework and keep bilateral economic and trade ties stable and tackle systemic intellectual property issues.

The 16-point list of common understandings has highlighted more efforts to facilitate the processing of export license applications for China's rare earth and permanent magnets destined for the EU through a "green channel."

Both sides agree to hold the next meeting of the trade and investment consultation mechanism in March next year while maintaining close communication.