(Vox)- The European Union and China will hold a summit in Brussels on June 2, four EU officials said, the first since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump that has united the two economic powers against global warming and trade protectionism.

China's premier and the heads of the European Union's main institutions will aim to deliver a strong statement in support of the Paris climate deal that Trump has threatened to withdraw from, the officials said.

China asked that the annual the summit, normally held in mid-July, be brought forward to press home President Xi Jinping's defense of open trade at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, in response to Trump's protective stance.

While the date has not formally been announced, EU officials said it had been agreed with Beijing. The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in mid-April and said afterwards that she had discussed the summit.

"The EU and China will send a very, very clear message that we will stick to the Paris climate agreement regardless of what the United States does," said one EU official. "Climate is a big part of the summit ... It is very high on the agenda."

The expected final summit statement will likely add to the pressure on Trump that other Group of Seven leaders will seek to apply at a summit in Italy on May 26-27, the officials said.

Trump, who openly doubts climate change is man-made and made a campaign pledge to "cancel" the 2015 Paris Agreement, has postponed a decision on whether to stick to or abandon the global accord.

He is expected to make a decision on that after returning from the Group of Seven summit, according to the White House.

China is looking to the European Union to fill what it sees as a leadership vacuum on a host of issues in the face of a more protectionist and inward-looking Washington.