China’s trade surplus with Europe soared during the pandemic as Europeans bought more goods such as personal protective equipment or electronics to allow working from home. From 2020 to 2022 the surplus more than doubled, hitting $277 billion last year. That has since narrowed somewhat as European demand has cooled, with the surplus falling to $19 billion last month, according to Chinese data released Tuesday.
The statement by Dombrovskis echoes that of French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who recently said in Beijing that his nation was looking to “get better access and more balanced access to the Chinese market.” Former US President Donald Trump was also highly critical of the deficit with China, with the trade deal signed in January 2020 meant in part to address that imbalance.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/china-says-europe-s-soaring-trade-deficit-is-its-own-fault-1.1956373
I am asking, because France and China just signed a lot of trade deals that would benefit them both, and now the EU, which is supposed to also represent France is playing tough ball with China, so who does the EU represent and why can the EU have a different approach to other European countries if it represent them and how "fully" do they represent them?