China and Europe agree to cut Chinese hybrid vehicle exports by half

• Europe's trade chief Maroš Sefčovič cast the two days of talks with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing as a positive first step.
• The widening trade surplus between the EU and China has been a point of contention.

BEIJING — European trade commissioner Maroš Sefčovič said Friday that China has agreed to halve its exports of hybrid cars to the bloc.

Europe has called on China to voluntarily reduce hybrid car exports into the continent, but authorities in Beijing had reportedly slapped down the request, according to the Financial Times.

The widening trade surplus between the EU and China has been a point of contention, with Germany and France previously having called on Brussels to develop a "last-resort" trade instrument to address imbalances.

Sefčovič said Friday that the final decision would still need Brussels' approval. Overall, he cast the two days of talks with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing as a positive first step, following a summer of rising tensions between China and the EU.

China's Commerce Ministry on Friday released a list of 16 "'consensus outcomes."

They included licenses for rare earth and permanent magnet export licenses to the EU. Sefcovic did not elaborate on a timeline for the rare earth exports.

Earlier this year, on June 29 for the first meeting of the EU-China Trade and Investment Consultations.

The two sides agreed to next meet in March, with a video conference in January, according to the Chinese readout.