China and the European Union have issued a joint call to action on climate change during an otherwise tense bilateral summit in Beijing on Thursday riven with major disagreements over trade and the war in Ukraine.

Mr Xi urged the EU officials at the summit to "adhere to open cooperation and properly handle differences and frictions" after Ms von der Leyen warned that the bloc’s ties with China were at an “inflection point” and called for a rebalancing of trade ties with the world's second largest economy.

By Laurie Chen, Liz Lee and Xiuhao Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -EU-China trade ties have hit a "clear inflection point," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday in Beijing, capping a tense summit with top Chinese leaders dominated by concerns on commerce and the Ukraine war.