China Confirms Discussions on Video Summit With France, Germany

  • Xi to hold call this week with Merkel, Macron, people say
  • China, EU relations have chilled over human-rights disputes
Xi Jinping, Charles Michel, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, and Ursula von der Leyen during their videoconference in December.Photographer: Lukasz Kobus/European Commission
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China confirmed talks for a video summit with France and Germany, as Beijing and Europe attempt to keep human rights disputes from scuttling efforts at cooperation.

China’s Xi Jinping is expected to speak this week with Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron, people with knowledge of the matter said over the weekend. The agenda for the joint video call between the leaders isn’t yet known, according to the people, who asked not to be named since the information isn’t public.