The European Union and China have decided to cancel a planned summit in Germany in September because of the coronavirus pandemic, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Wednesday.

In phone calls between Merkel, European Council president Charles Michel and China's President Xi Jinping, the leaders agreed "that the meeting could not take place at the scheduled time in view of the overall pandemic situation, but that it should be postponed," said spokesman Steffen Seibert.

The summit was scheduled to take place in Leipzig, but the coronavirus pandemic has since caused huge travel disruptions around the globe.

In his call with Merkel, Xi said China "stands ready to work with Germany and the European Union" on a variety of issues, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Since emerging in China last December, the virus has killed more than 382,000 people, according to a tally from official sources.

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Growing US-China rivalry seen fueling UN paralysis amid virus crisis
United Nations, United States (AFP) May 31, 2020
For nearly a decade, the UN Security Council has been frequently paralyzed by Russia's obstinacy over the Syrian crisis. Today, however, it is the US-China rivalry that has infected a growing array of issues, according to officials and diplomats. As recently as 2017, an understanding between Washington and Beijing allowed the United Nations on three occasions - involving separate sets of economic sanctions - to project international unity in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat. Three ... read more