The EU’s China Strategy: “de-risking, but not decoupling”
The rise of China to a global economic and military power has seen the European Union recalibrate its relationship accordingly in recent years. China represents both an important market and key manufacturing hub for European companies and a major investor in the bloc, but its approach to intellectual property, technological advances, and trade policies means it is also an economic rival. So too on geopolitical issues, China’s heft makes it a key partner in regional and global issues like climate change, but its domestic suppression of human rights, from the Uyghurs to Hong Kong, are anathema to the EU’s democratic principles. Its aggressive foreign policy and claims on Taiwan and the South China Sea also challenge the so-called rules-based global order that Europe espouses. More recently, Washington’s increasing rivalry with Beijing and China’s possible influence in Russia’s war on Ukraine has raised questions in the EU about whether China is more a cooperating partner, economic competitor, or systemic rival.
This Dods EU Political Intelligence report examines the EU’s approach to its increasingly important relationship with China through the lens of foreign affairs and trade, including recent speeches by key policymakers and related policy developments.