China is preparing to scale back a leaders’ summit with the European Union scheduled for later this month, according to people familiar with the planning. Beijing intends to cancel the second day of the meeting, reducing the scope of what would have been the highest-level bilateral engagement since diplomatic ties were established five decades ago. Chinese officials have not publicly confirmed the change, but European diplomats said they had been informed of the decision. The move comes as relations are fraying over both trade and climate policy. Brussels has resisted Beijing’s push for a joint declaration on climate cooperation, with EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra telling the Financial Times that any communiqué must include stronger Chinese commitments to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. China accounts for roughly a third of global emissions and is projected to miss a five-year carbon-intensity target, EU officials noted. Beijing has recently announced counter-measures against EU import restrictions, further clouding the atmosphere ahead of the summit. Nonetheless, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China remained willing to work with the bloc on climate-change mitigation, adaptation and green transition, underscoring what she called “shared interests and vast potential” for cooperation. Diplomats had hoped the summit would produce a roadmap for deeper collaboration on energy transition and other global issues. The trimmed agenda now risks limiting progress on those talks and underscores the widening gap between the world’s second- and third-largest economies.