Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a bold move by declining the EU's invitation to attend a summit in Brussels to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the European Union. Beijing informed EU officials that Premier Li Qiang will be taking the place of Xi to meet the president of the European Council and the European Commission. But the EU is insisting that Xi join the summit and to celebrate the half a century of relationship between Beijing and the bloc. Typically, the Premier represents China at summits held in Brussels, while the President attends when the event is hosted in Beijing. However, the EU had hoped for Xi's presence to mark half a century of China-EU relations, according to the report. But with the tensions between Brussels and Beijing at a tipping point, it seems that China is finally making a statement to say "enough is enough." Growing Tentino between China and the EU The tension between the country has been intensifying since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with the EU accusing China of supporting the Kremlin. The relationship between the two parties further worsened after the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports. In October last year, the EU imposed double-digit tariffs on China-made electric vehicles after an anti-subsidy investigation, in addition to its standard import duty of 10%. The move drew loud protest from Beijing, which in return raised market entry barriers for certain EU products like brandy. China later lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organisation accusing the EU move of an act of "abuse of trade remedies", claiming it violates WTO rules and protectionist measures. China, the world's second-largest economy, and the EU, its third-largest, also spent much of last year in a war of words over allegations of overcapacity, illegal subsidies, and market dumping.