Šefčovič travels to Beijing Oct. 8 for what he termed a “a super crucial meeting” with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and said he was optimistic the trip will bear fruit. “You have to believe that you can accomplish something, otherwise you better don’t go.”

The commissioner needs to get results he can present at a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Oct. 15-16, and has said previously that Brussels is ready to restrict Chinese access to the EU market should the talks fail.

The EU and China have been locked in tense negotiations since June. EU leaders have said they can no longer tolerate the flood of Chinese imports inundating the single market, putting pressure on domestic manufacturers and forcing plant closures and layoffs.

“I think our Chinese partners understood that this has direct implication on the future of emblematic European companies — literally thousands of jobs,” Šefčovič reported. “And also the social fabric and social model which was developed in Europe over many, many decades.”

The bloc’s ballooning €1-billion-a-day trade deficit with China lies at the heart of the talks. Cutting that deficit would require either reducing imports from China, boosting EU exports, or a mix of the two.

Šefčovič said he hopes to bring a “proof of concept” back from Beijing that addresses three main issues: sudden Chinese export surges in key industrial sectors; tangible ways to increase European goods exports to China; and long-term clarity regarding China’s export curbs on raw materials, especially rare earth elements.