The meeting on the sidelines of the Asean regional summit in Vientiane comes days after China announced provisional tariffs on European brandy imports — the latest salvo in a growing exchange of tit-for-tat penalties.

China and the EU are major economic partners but they are at odds over Beijing’s generous subsidies for its industries, which Brussels says unfairly drive down the price of Chinese exports, undercutting European competitors.

Michel will meet Li on Friday morning in Vientiane, an EU official told AFP.

The 27-member bloc has decided to slap extra tariffs of up to 35.3% on imports of Chinese-made electric cars, infuriating Beijing which slammed the move as “protectionist”.

In response China launched a probe into imports of EU-made brandy and on Tuesday announced new tariffs, saying European “dumping” was threatening domestic spirit producers.

Brussels is also investigating Chinese subsidies for solar panels and wind turbines, while Beijing is probing EU subsidies of some dairy and pork products imported into China.