中国商务部部长王文涛周一与德国经济部长卡特琳娜·赖歇进行了视频通话。此次通话距离北京与布鲁塞尔之间的下一轮贸易谈判仅剩一周时间，与此同时有报道称德国和法国正在推动一项新措施，该措施将使欧盟能够迅速将中国排除在欧洲市场之外。
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao held a video call with German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche on Monday, one week before the next round of trade talks between Beijing and Brussels, amid reports that Germany and France are pushing for a new tool that would enable the EU to swiftly shut China out of the European market.
根据中方周一发布的简短声明，王文涛与赖歇“就中德及中欧的经济与贸易关系交换了意见”。德国方面尚未发表任何声明，也未回应《南华早报》的采访请求。
Wang Wentao and Reiche “exchanged opinions on the Sino-German and Sino-European economic and trade relations”, according to a short statement published by the Chinese side on Monday. The German side has yet to release a statement and did not reply to the South China Morning Post’s request for comment.
此次通话发生在王文涛预计于10月8日在北京与欧盟贸易谈判代表马罗斯·塞夫科维奇举行第二轮谈判的10天前。
The call came 10 days before Wang was expected to meet with his European counterpart Maros Sefcovic in Beijing on October 8 for the second round of China-EU trade talks.
据知情人士向《南华早报》透露，中方代表团为准备谈判可能不得不放弃10月1日至7日的国庆假期。
Sources from the Chinese side have described discussions as “difficult” and the team is likely to forfeit its national day holiday, which runs from October 1 to 7, in preparation for the talks, a source familiar with the matter told the SCMP.
此次通话也正值欧盟方面加紧准备之际。西班牙媒体《Dossier Bruselas》周一报道称，巴黎和柏林正在制定一项改革欧盟“反胁迫工具”（Anti-Coercion Instrument, ACI）的计划。
The call also came during reportedly intensifying preparation from the European side as well. Spanish media outlet Dossier Bruselas reported on Monday that Paris and Berlin were finishing a plan to reform the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI).
目前该工具允许欧盟采取多种报复性措施，包括征收关税、实施出口管制以及将中国企业排除在欧洲市场之外；但使用该工具的前提是欧盟委员会必须获得27个成员国中的多数支持。不过《Dossier Bruselas》指出，拟议中的改革将改变这一规则：今后欧盟委员会将可以直接启动该工具，除非反对该措施的成员国能够集结足够多的支持力量来阻止其实施。
The ACI, also known as the “trade bazooka”, would enable Brussels to apply a wide range of retaliatory measures, including tariffs, quotas, export controls and market exclusions. The only caveat was that the European Commission needed a qualified majority of the 27 member states to trigger it. The proposed reform will flip that requirement on its head: the European Commission would be able to activate the tool unless member states opposed to the measure could assemble a qualified majority to block it, according to Dossier Bruselas.
该媒体还报道称，巴黎和柏林计划将改革方案提交给欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩，以便在10月15日的欧盟峰会上讨论。
The outlet also reported that Paris and Berlin planned to send it to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before the EU summit on October 15.
爱丽舍宫及德国联邦新闻局并未立即回应《南华早报》的确认请求。
The Élysée and the German Federal Press and Information Office did not immediately reply to the SCMP’s request for confirmation.
据报道，虽然德国政府正在为谈判做准备，但一些德国企业已经在为最坏的情况做准备。
While their government was reportedly sharpening its tools for the talks, some German businesses have reportedly been preparing for the worst-case scenario.
《Politico》上周报道称，一些德国企业因担心第二轮中欧贸易谈判可能破裂，正在“恐慌”并“囤积”稀土资源；该报道引用了德国一位行业官员的话，认为如果谈判失败，布鲁塞尔推动贸易平衡的努力可能会引发北京的报复措施。德国经济事务部拒绝对此报道发表评论。
Politico reported last week that some German companies were “panicking” and “stockpiling” rare earths ahead of the second round of China-EU trade talks, citing a German industry official, in case the negotiation broke down and Brussels’ push to rebalance trade would trigger retaliation from Beijing. The German ministry of economic affairs declined to comment on the report. By Xiaofei Xu