The European Commission is willing to continue negotiating with China a potential deal to avert tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles even after such tariffs are imposed, a senior EU official said on Monday.

The European Union and China will continue negotiations to find an alternative solution to tariffs even if member states vote in the coming days to impose levies on electric vehicles, according to people familiar with the matter.

The European Union is planning to vote on whether to introduce tariffs as high as 45% on imported electric vehicles made in China on Oct. 4, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Technical teams from China and the European Commission are actively negotiating a flexible price commitment to mitigate looming EV tariffs.

With a vote on introducing tariffs on electric vehicles coming into Europe from China looming, Brussels and Beijing are locked in intensive talks to find an alternative solution to the levies.

The Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday that technical teams from China and the European Commission are actively negotiating a flexible price commitment solution over the electric vehicle tariff dispute.

The vote would pave the way for new duties as high as 35 percent unless a qualified majority — 15 member states representing 65 percent of the the bloc's population — opposes the move.

Nio Inc. founder William Li hit out at the European Union and the US, saying their moves to level tariffs on electric cars are unreasonable and urged them to cooperate with, rather than fight, China.