A summit between China and the European Union, planned for September in Leipzig, Germany, has been postponed because of the coronavirus, the government in Berlin has said.

The decision was made after Chancellor Angela Merkel held separate phone calls with Chinese President Xi Jinping and European Council President Charles Michel, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday. “They agreed that the meeting cannot take place at the envisaged time given the pandemic but should be rescheduled,” Seibert added. A similar summit that was due to take place at the end of March in China was also postponed.

EU states had wanted to use the summits to push Beijing to give European companies equal treatment and put an end to a practice of forcing foreign firms to share know-how when operating in China, Reuters said.

The EU’s executive has proposed broadening scrutiny of foreign investments in the bloc, a public draft document showed on Thursday, part of efforts to shield more sectors from potential Chinese buyers.

Source: RT