The European Union will seek Beijing's agreement for deadlines to open up China's economy at an April 9 summit in Brussels, trying to coax it into making good on promises to deepen trade ties, according to a draft leaders' statement.

China and the EU will "agree by summer 2019 on a set of priority market access barriers and requirements facing their operators," according to a six-page joint communique drafted by the EU, which still requires Chinese approval.