EU and China clinch deal over cars after heated trade talks as Brussels pushes to rebalance trade

JUST IN: EU and China reach a deal over cars after heated trade talks, with Brussels calling it the end of the 'first phase' of negotiations as it pushes to rebalance trade with Beijing.

The EU and China just struck a deal on cars. After what Brussels itself describes as heated trade talks, the two sides shook hands on an agreement covering the car trade, and officials are calling it the end of the first phase of negotiations.

You can see the mood in the room here, flags on the table, suits all round, and a lot of tension underneath the handshakes. The word Brussels keeps using is rebalance. Translation, Europe thinks the trade relationship with Beijing has been running one way for too long, and cheap Chinese electric vehicles flooding into European showrooms have been the loudest symptom.

The detail that matters is that phrase, first phase. Nobody ends a negotiation by numbering it. That means subsidies, market access, the hard stuff, is all still on the table, and this deal is the easy part.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.