"The European Council encourages China to assume greater responsibility in dealing with global challenges. This includes, in particular, taking more ambitious action on climate in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement and on biodiversity, and supporting multilateral responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, notably as regards treatments and vaccines, the independent review of the international health response, and debt relief as a necessary condition for recovery from the pandemic, particularly in Africa," the communique, published late on Thursday, read.

The European Council, the bloc's political arm, also welcomed the recent pledge from Chinese leader Xi Jinping that China will aim to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

In a late-night news conference following the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said that EU leaders want to bring unity to their dialogue with China in place of disparate approaches.

"Together with the head of the European Council [Charles] Michel and German Chancellor [Angela] Merkel, we want to bring unity to the strategic dialogue with China and not conduct it in a disjointed manner, so to speak," the French leader said.

Macron said that the EU is expected to continue climate talks with China in the coming months. 

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