The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, is anticipated to visit Beijing this autumn for a face-to-face meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, sources familiar with the arrangements said. This visit would mark Kallas’ first trip to China since assuming her current role in 2024 and her first in-person dialogue with Wang since a tense encounter in Brussels last summer.

The meeting is expected to focus on the annual EU-China “strategic dialogue,” a platform for discussing bilateral foreign and security issues. Key topics likely on the agenda include China’s ties with Russia, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Last year’s meeting in Brussels was notably fractious when Wang stated that Beijing did not want Russia to lose the war in Ukraine, reasoning that a Moscow defeat would allow the United States to concentrate its efforts fully on Asia. Since then, Kallas has maintained a firm stance toward Beijing. In June, she publicly stated that the EU had verified reports alleging China’s military involvement in training Russian forces for the Ukraine conflict, an accusation consistently denied by Chinese officials.

Kallas’ office confirmed that while the autumn travel plans are not yet finalized, coordination with Beijing is ongoing. The visit comes amid escalating tension in EU-China relations, including the looming threat of a trade war. The European Commission has set an October deadline for progress on negotiating a replacement for the Overseas Investment Screening Mechanism, signaling the EU’s intent to adopt a tougher trade policy toward China.

In July, the European External Action Service (EEAS) released a policy paper accusing China, alongside Russia, of attempting to “reshape the global order” to suit their interests and promoting a return to a sphere-of-influence approach. The document represents one of the EU’s strongest official critiques of Beijing, labeling it both a “key” and “crucial enabler” of Russia’s war in Ukraine—a characterization previously used by NATO. China has rejected allegations of siding with Russia, asserting a neutral position in the conflict. In response to the EEAS paper, the Chinese embassy in the EU lodged a diplomatic demarche protesting the EU’s stance.

Since their contentious meeting last July, Wang and Kallas have communicated twice by phone. The first exchange took place on the sidelines of the 2025 ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Malaysia shortly after their Brussels encounter. The second call, on April 2, was arranged to discuss the escalating crisis in Iran after months of Beijing’s initial silence toward EU outreach. That conversation, however, ended in renewed disagreement, this time over trade issues. Sources familiar with the call described Wang as responding sharply to Kallas’ explanation of new EU proposals, including the Industrial Accelerator Act and the Cybersecurity Act, warning that China would respond robustly and that Europe risked greater harm in a trade confrontation.

The forthcoming meeting in Beijing will test whether both sides can temper tensions and find common ground amid an increasingly challenging bilateral relationship.