“It is the common duty of Europe and China, but also America and Russia, not to destroy the global trade order but to improve it, not to start trade wars which turned into hot conflicts so often in history,” EU Council President Donald Tusk said in Beijing. He added that there is still time to prevent conflict and chaos.

During talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as part of an annual EU-China summit, Tusk insisted that the World Trade Organization needs new regulations on compulsory technology transfer and subsidiary sums for the industry. Meanwhile, Li said China aims for more balanced trade with the EU.

Ahead of his Monday summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, US President Donald Trump described the EU as one of his country’s greatest economic “foes”, calling the body “very difficult”.