China Says EU Trade Talks Progress, Urges Against Protectionism

The read here is less about any concrete outcome than about tone: Beijing is framing the consultation mechanism as functional precisely at a moment when trade friction between the two blocs has been widening. The mention of WTO rules and a warning against discriminatory policies signals that market access and industrial-policy disputes remain unresolved beneath the diplomatic language. For supply chains tied to both economies, the open question is whether this dialogue track produces enforceable commitments or stays a pressure-release valve.