She added that the EU’s relationship with Beijing is very important and will be "a determining factor for our future prosperity and national security". Von der Leyen stressed that the European Union believes that it is critically important to keep lines of communication with China open.
“We need to reinforce the institutions and systems in which countries can compete and cooperate and from which they benefit this is why it is vitally important that we ensure diplomatic stability and open communication with China,” von der Leyen said during her speech on EU-China relations at the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
According to the commission's president, the EU wants to reduce risks in relations with Beijing.
“We need to focus on de-risking not decouple and this is part of the reason that I will be soon visiting Beijing together with [French] President [Emmanuel] Macron managing this relationship and having an open and frank exchange with our Chinese counterparts is a key part of what i would call the de-risking through diplomacy of our relationship with China,” von der Leyen added.