CMG Insight #13 – New CMG Primer: EU-China relations – from economic integration to EU's strategic autonomy and 'de-risking'

In this 13th edition of CMG Insights and the last one before the summer break, we are taking a closer look at the EU/Europe-China relations, with recent months seeing a flurry of bilateral exchanges between Europe and China on various levels, most recently with Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Germany and France – his first visit abroad in his new role.

New CMG Primer: EU-China relations – from economic integration to EU's strategic autonomy and 'de-risking'

Europe-China relations over the past decade have come a long way. The 2020 Strategic Agenda from 2013 that largely focused on stronger cooperation made way to a more skeptical approach by the EU?– culminating in the 2019 EU-China Strategic Outlook that declared China simultaneously a partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival.

In March this year, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – in her so-called “de-risking” speech – emphasized that the EU would have to be more ‘clear-eyed’ in its dealing with China. And as the government-to-government consultations between China and Germany were held on 20 June, the EU published its new European economic security strategy – a country-agnostic strategy to strengthen the trade bloc’s competitiveness (“promote”) and safeguard economic security (“protect”), in large parts consolidating and codifying numerous defensive and offensive instruments to deal with what are perceived as challenges that China presents for the EU.

So where do Europe-China relations stand today? How integrated are both economic blocs at a time of growing desires for de-risked supply chains and domestic industrial competitiveness? And how does the situation look from Beijing’s perspective?

Download our New CMG Primer EU-China relations – from economic integration to EU's strategic autonomy and 'de-risking'.

Expert's take: "China-EU relations entered a stage of complication that requires careful adjustments"

Further to the new CMG Primer, to better make sense of the most recent developments and the Conclusions on China from the European Council Summit that just convened on June 29-30, CMG spoke to Prof. ZHOU Hong from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) – a leading Chinese expert on Europe.

Check out our conversation with Prof. Zhou.

Find more CMG research and insights on our website.