The EU does not want a trade war with Beijing but five years of talks have yielded no real progress, the bloc's ambassador to China said on Saturday, adding that concern was growing over Chinese market access for European medical devices.

China and the European Union should address their disagreements and form a united front against a "triumphant" Donald Trump, said a former chief of the World Trade Organization, calling the incoming US president a threat to global trade.

Imposing sanctions and engaging in trade wars does not align with China's interests, nor with the EU's interests, a Chinese observer said on Sunday, describing the complexity of China-EU relations like that of a "wrangling married couple.

Emmanuel Macron warned that Europe risks getting divided by Donald Trump’s economic policy and being thrown into a simultaneous trade war with Washington and Beijing.

The French president added that European countries risked being divided depending on their relative dependence on the US or Chinese market.