China and the European Parliament are in the "final stages" of discussions about removing sanctions on its lawmakers as part of a move to open the door for mended relations between Beijing and the bloc.
"Discussions with the Chinese authorities are continuing and in their final stages," a spokesperson for the European parliament told RFE/RL.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola "will first inform group leaders once the Chinese authorities officially confirm that sanctions have been lifted," the spokesperson added. "It has always been the European Parliament's intention to have the sanctions lifted and resume relations with China."
The discussions to lift sanctions come as Beijing tries to make inroads against the backdrop of an unfolding trade war with US President Donald Trump's administration. In the face of 145 percent tariffs from the United States, China's largest export market, Beijing is now looking to improve relations with the European Union after years of strained ties with the 27-country bloc.
Beijing implemented the sanctions back in 2021 against several members of European Parliament (MEPs) after Brussels had used measures of its own on Chinese officials and entities because of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, such as ethnic Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, in China's Xinjiang Province.
In response, the European parliament then froze the ratification of an EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) that was designed to deepen trade ties between the two massive markets.
A deal toward lifting the sanctions, which was first reported by German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung, has raised speculation that China and the EU are moving to normalize their ties as both navigate pressure from the Trump administration.
The EU and China are also set to hold a summit in Beijing in July.
An EU official who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations said that "it's correct that we are working on lifting the sanctions."
However, the official said that the move "has absolutely nothing to do with making any trade deal" and that the previously agreed CAI with Beijing faced obstacles back in 2021 before China sanctioned MEPs and that this "is even more true today."
The EU official added that talks with Beijing have been under way for several months and they predated tariffs deployed by Trump, which includes a 20 percent tariff for the EU, although this is currently suspended for 90 days to allow time to negotiate trade deals.
Noah Barkin, senior adviser at Rhodium Group, a consultancy, says Beijing is looking to use the removal of sanctions as a precursor to boosting trade ties with Brussels after years of tensions over Chinese support for Russia in its war against Ukraine and a record number of trade investigations launched by the European Commission looking into Chinese companies and government trade policies.
In an April 23 blog post, Barkin wrote that EU officials have told him "China hopes the removal of sanctions will lead to a revival of the CAI, sending a powerful signal about EU-China cooperation at a time when Beijing and Brussels are under intense pressure from a global trade war launched by President Donald Trump."
Barkin added that despite these expectations from China, he sees "the chances of a meaningful rapprochement between the EU and China as slim."
The EU sanctions on Chinese entities are to remain in place and it is unclear if China is planning to remove the blacklisting of all the MEPs and European entities targeted back in 2021 or only for some.
The list of MEPs includes Michael Gahler and Miriam Lexmann, lawmakers from Germany and Slovakia, Raphael Glucksmann from France, and Ilhan Kyuchyuk from Bulgaria.
Reinhard Butikofer, a German lawmaker and former leader of the European parliament's China delegation, has since left the body.
The Chinese blacklist also includes two EU-linked committees, three national parliamentarians, the Mercator Institute for China Studies, the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, and two academics researching China and Xinjiang.
