Wang Yi in Zagreb: China readouts cite Croatian backing on Taiwan and talks on EU trade imbalances

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Croatian President Zoran Milanović in Zagreb on 16 October and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on 17 October, according to readouts published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry also says Wang held talks with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, without giving details of that meeting.

Everything below is taken from the Chinese readouts. Statements attributed to the Croatian officials are as the ministry reported them, and the Croatian side’s own account of the meetings was not available to Geopolitiki.

Meeting with President Milanović

The readout says Milanović reaffirmed Croatia’s commitment to the one-China policy, stressing that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China”. It also says he told Wang that, as an EU member, Croatia follows the bloc’s common foreign and security policy while striving to maintain its own independence. On the trade disputes between the EU and China, the ministry says he shares Beijing’s position and expects them to be resolved through dialogue.

Wang, in the same readout, said there is no fundamental conflict of interests between China and the European Union, and that the trade surplus the EU worries about results from market demand and the international division of labour.

Meeting with Prime Minister Plenković

According to the second readout, Plenković thanked Chinese companies for their part in Croatian road, bridge and tunnel projects, naming the Pelješac Bridge, and spoke of expanding cooperation in tourism, solar and wind power. He welcomed the launch of direct flights between the two countries and said he hopes the leaders’ meeting format between China and Central and Eastern European countries will resume soon.

On trade, the ministry reports Plenković as saying that EU countries, Croatia included, have concerns about trade imbalances, and that participants at the recent EU summit spoke positively of the consensus reached through the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism.

Wang replied, according to the readout, that there is no “so-called overcapacity”, saying that competitively priced Chinese goods benefit European consumers. He described China and the EU as “partners, not rivals” and told Plenković that Beijing respects the choices of the Croatian people and Croatia’s governance model. The ministry adds that next year marks 15 years of the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism, which Wang proposed to use to reinvigorate cooperation.

Plenković also briefed Wang on the situation in the Western Balkans. The ministry says Wang replied that China does not interfere in the internal affairs of countries in the region.

Context

Wang came to Croatia after the Baku summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, where he met several leaders. Geopolitiki has reported two of those meetings, both likewise based on Chinese readouts: Wang Yi and Lavrov meet in Baku: China readout cites APEC in Shenzhen and new consensus on leader-level contacts and Wang Yi and Fidan meet in Baku: China readout cites Belt and Road, Middle Corridor and COP31.