After months of delays and with the global economy teetering, EU-China trade negotiations on Tuesday yielded few concrete results, save for the commitment to keep talking.
The video conference between two of the world's three largest economies - officially known as the High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue - took place as they confront their own unique challenges.
China's economy - reeling from the impact of supply chain shutdowns stemming from strict zero-Covid policies - slowed to just 0.4 per cent growth in the second quarter from a year earlier.
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The European Union's member nations face some of the continent's highest inflation rates for decades, and the prospect of winter fuel shortages that are a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Unsurprisingly, these issues were high on the agenda, according to official accounts from both sides.
A Chinese state media report described the discussions as "pragmatic, candid and efficient", and said the pair had agreed on "a series of results".
The account cited progress made on macroeconomic policy coordination, unblocking supply chains and reforming the world trading system.
It also said that both sides agreed to open their respective financial service sectors, but offered no details on what these results might look like.
An official EU readout said that Brussels officials had asked China to "help address the challenges caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine", and that Beijing had expressed willingness to work together to tackle global food security "including through the export of fertilisers".
EU officials also raised prickly issues like industrial subsidies and overcapacities and told their Chinese counterparts that "measures of economic coercion - including against Lithuania - are unacceptable".
They complained of "the growing politicisation of the business environment in China", which they said was "leading EU companies to reconsider their existing operations and planned investments in the country".
The Chinese state media account made no mention of these topics.
The talks were chaired by Vice-Premier Liu He, economic adviser to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, who was joined by the EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness.