European efforts to encourage a speedier appreciation of the Chinese renminbi will step up a gear this month amid concerns the euro is bearing the brunt of global macroeconomic adjustments.

Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, who chairs meetings of eurozone finance ministers, will be joined on a lobbying mission to Beijing by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, and Joaquin Almunia, the European Union’s monetary affairs commissioner. Their visit is officially separate from a European Union/China summit, taking place at the same time in Beijing, but appears deliberately timed to maximise the impact of their message. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who has voiced fears about the euro’s strength, is also expected in China at about that time.