Clearing the hurdles

China-EU relations can continue to develop despite enormous potential challenges

The European Union has adopted positions of confrontation or competition in its China policy since the start of this year. For example, in January, the EU and NATO issued their first joint statement in nearly five years, claiming that the two sides hope to strengthen cooperation to respond to "security threats and challenges" allegedly posed by countries including China. Yet China and the EU will continue to benefit from their close bilateral economic and trade relations.

In terms of prospects for bilateral cooperation, there are still strategic conditions for long-term cooperation between China and the EU, and the two sides share specific interest demands for cooperation. There are also possibilities for more diversified forms of cooperation.

The respective economic and trade interests of China and the EU will help reinforce bilateral cooperation. The EU's economic and trade relations with its Western political allies cannot replace its economic and trade relations with China as its long-term partner over the short term. There are still many conflicts over the market between the EU and the United States. The EU may continue to take actions to further decouple in key areas from China. However, it is impossible to upend industry chains in non-key sectors, as doing so will hurt both economies and deliver severe shocks to the stability of the world economy.

In addition, there is room for international cooperation between China and the EU in areas such as climate change, health and green energy. There is a large gap in interests between the two sides in the field of climate change, but they share common positions on global goals such as emissions reduction and ecological protection. Given that EU seeks a dominant position in the field of climate change, and China plays an important role in cutting global emissions, this will prompt Brussels to seek further cooperation with and support from Beijing in this field. In the field of public health, the two sides can coordinate their steps on scrapping restrictions over bilateral personnel flow, strengthen the functions and efficiency of the World Health Organization, promote global cooperation in vaccine development, production and use, and offer aid to less developed countries. In addition, as the European energy crisis continues, China and the EU can work together in the fields of solar panel production and investment, lithium battery production and green energy development, as well as infrastructure development projects aimed at promoting the diversification of energy sources in Europe.

Despite realistic demands and the potential for bilateral cooperation, China-EU relations could encounter potential challenges this year.

First, the structural factors leading to frictions between the two sides still exist and are being built up. One factor is the growing conflict in values. Regarding the strategic autonomy of the EU, maintaining the bloc's self-proclaimed norm-based liberal view of international order, safeguarding the authority of its own norms, and consolidating its values-based alliance with the US are among its major interests of concern. In this context, the conflict in values between Beijing and Brussels, as two major forces that stick to different social systems, ideologies, and civilization concepts, could be inevitable, which will be manifested in specific confrontational events.

The second is the strengthening of the political alliance between the EU and the US in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. With the continuation of the conflict, the EU's negative sentiment toward China based on their different positions in the conflict will grow and evolve into specific policy actions toward China.

The third is that the anti-globalization trend could induce the bloc to accelerate its so-called "decoupling" from China in strategic and security fields. Such actions will not be slowed or delayed with the in-depth growth of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

The challenges will become increasingly intense, not only in geopolitics, but also in the field of economic and trade relations. From the perspective of geopolitics, Brussels could pose more potential challenges to Beijing over issues concerning China's neighboring areas and the Taiwan question. In addition, many EU countries, as members of NATO, could push forward the integration of some NATO plans into EU policy frameworks. In doing so, NATO's intention will be projected to China's surrounding areas in the cooperation between the EU and economies in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean region. In addition, guided by its Global Gateway Initiative, the EU could interfere with Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, and the bloc may compete for greater influence in Africa and other regions to strengthen its so-called geopolitical competitive edge. From the economic and trade perspective, the EU is continuing to prepare for the introduction of some common economic and trade norms, including the official implementation of the Supply Chain Law and the ban on products made with forced labor in the EU market. The adoption of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism at the end of last year will put pressure on Chinese exporters of certain commodities to the EU this year.

China can make the following plans for its relations with the EU in line with the broad room for bilateral cooperation and the increasingly severe challenges to the relationship.

First of all, it is important for China to fully understand the importance of the EU in its foreign relations and maintaining friendly bilateral ties. Maintaining a stable and growing China-EU relationship is not only conducive to improving the independent status of both sides, but also beneficial to peace and stability in international relations when the global landscape is now undergoing major division and restructuring. In this regard, China should see the development of a stable and developing relationship with the EU as one of the key agendas in its foreign relations. In a moderate manner, Beijing can work toward a more constructive policy toward Brussels, and refrain from provoking conflicts at political and diplomatic levels without compromising its principled positions and major interests. It is important to accommodate each other's major concerns, heed each other's opinions and suggestions, and handle respective demands in a constructive manner over major international and bilateral issues.

On this basis, China's relations with EU member states, especially France, Germany and members of the Visegrad Group, should be further strengthened, and its ties with some sub-national organizations and other transnational organizations in Europe should be reinforced. Beijing, while seeking cooperation with the utmost sincerity, should resolutely respond to actions that endanger its core and security interests adopted by the bloc and continue to make efforts to move bilateral cooperation forward.

The author is the deputy director and an associate professor of the Center for China-Europe Relations, the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.