EU trade chief says she hopes EU member states will approve Brexit deal

(Reuters) - European Union trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Wednesday she hoped that EU member states would approve the Brexit deal, and that she agreed with criticism by the United States on China.

The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a deal that would give London's financial centre a basic level of access to the bloc's markets after Brexit.

"We very much share the criticism that the U.S. has voiced," she said when asked in a CNBC interview if she supported the tough U.S. stance on trade with China. The EU is working with the United States and Japan to address concerns over China within the World Trade Organization, she added.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Chang)