SHANGHAI -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met leaders of two top European Union institutions on Thursday, aiming to smooth over relations after Brussels warned that it has "tools" to correct a chronic trade imbalance.
The visit to Beijing by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, head of the European Council, comes as China increasingly relies on European countries to absorb a glut of industrial output as its own economy slows. Amid growing discomfort in Europe over ties with China more generally, Italy is understood to have formally submitted a plan in recent days to withdraw from Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.
