During last week’s 25th China-EU Summit in Beijing, which celebrated the half-century mark of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two sides, President Xi Jinping put forward three propositions for the future development of China-EU relations that I – an EU citizen who has lived and worked in China for nearly half a century – found realistically attainable, assuming both sides share a committed mindset. And that remains the challenge.
The summit was co-chaired by Premier Li Qiang and the EU’s top representatives – European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. On the world stage, the principal representative of the 27-nation bloc is considered to be the President of the European Council, but the President of the European Commission, as head of the executive branch of the European Union, also participates in the G7 and other international summits. Therefore, one may liken Costa to the EU’s “head of state” and von der Leyen as its “head of government”. Nowadays, the EU stands as the world’s only truly supranational political and economic entity. Some analysts maintain that it is not a confederation anymore, and not a federation yet (if it will ever achieve that status). Others say that the EU is a sui generis political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation. Whatever the case, the EU is a – perhaps excessively – complex union of starkly different member states that often do not see eye to eye on internal and external issues such as agricultural subsidies and external relations – such as relations with Israel.
The EU uniquely maintains its own “embassies” abroad, known as EU delegations, currently numbering 144 (according to various EU sources), covering about three-quarters of the UN member states.
I mention all this as a way of underlining the importance of China-EU relations for the rest of the world.
I would also like to point out that irrespective of all the widely perceived bureaucratic and regulatory excesses of the apparatchik class in Brussels, the EU has, overall, been a political and economic success since six European nations signed the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, such as the EU citizens’ free movement within the bloc, and all this after the horrors of World War II.
China and the EU have a combined share of one-third of the global GDP, compared to around one-quarter of the US. That’s why both Beijing and Brussels should cherish their economically influential positions as vital bastions of multilateralism in an era of rising unilateralism, protectionism, and the weaponisation of tariffs wilfully undermining fair trade.
During his meeting with the EU’s top duo in Beijing on Tuesday, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Xi said that “both sides should respect each other, seek commonality while reserving differences, uphold openness and cooperation, and pursue mutual benefit”.
Xi put forward three sensible propositions for the future development of China-EU relations: both sides should uphold mutual respect and consolidate the positioning of China-EU relations as a partnership; the two sides should uphold openness and cooperation, and properly manage differences and frictions; both sides should practise multilateralism and uphold international rules and order.
In the meeting, according to Xinhua, President Xi stressed various crucial points, such as that the current challenges facing the EU do not come from China; China-EU relations are not targeted at, subjugated to, or controlled by any third party; and the aim of “reducing dependency” should not lead to reducing China-EU cooperation.
In his meeting with Costa and von der Leyen, Premier Li said that both sides could forge an “upgraded version” of the China-EU export control dialogue mechanism to ensure the stability of industrial and supply chains between China and Europe.
I share Li’s view that both sides should properly handle disputes and frictions through dialogue, consultation, and deepened cooperation.
Dialogue is the sine qua non for peaceful relations between nations with different political, social and cultural and, last but not least, value systems.
During her stay in Beijing, according to international newswires, von der Leyen said that China-EU ties had reached an “inflection point”.
“Inflection point” and “rebalancing” bilateral ties seem to be Brussels’ latest buzzwords concerning China-EU relations. “Decoupling” and “de-risking” were its previous vogue terms.
A China Daily editorial on her remarks pointed out that “von der Leyen might be correct, to some extent, in saying that relations between the two sides have reached ‘an inflection point’, but whether the relations will fare well in the future depends on whether the EU is willing to meet China halfway – working together to keep the relationship on the right course and standing on the right side of history”.
Well, let’s keep our hopes up.
Von der Leyen also stated that Beijing’s ties with Moscow were now the “determining” factor in the EU’s relations with China.
I find her stance that the China-Russia relationship is a “determinant” of the EU’s economic and political ties with China rather questionable. Why box oneself into a corner by exaggerating the importance of just one aspect of China’s foreign policies as far as the overall China-EU relationship is concerned?
Unlike the EU, for instance, China has launched a peace initiative at the UN (“Friends for Peace”), while Brussels shares responsibility for the sorrowful conflict, as it negligently ignored Russia’s legitimate security concerns that ultimately led to Moscow’s “special military operation”.
The China-EU relationship is much more important in political and economic terms than to be rendered singularly determined by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. As an adherent of the School of Realism, I hope that political sobriety will finally prevail.
What is urgently needed, I believe, is for EU politicians to rebalance their mindsets toward China, namely by accepting that Brussels needs to get down from its high horse of morality and address real issues that impact the over 1.8 billion people in China and the EU, accounting for 22 percent of humanity, such as by ensuring that they can benefit from affordable goods on sale in their respective markets. Tariffs, such as on eco-friendly cars, make them less affordable to consumers, low-income ones in particular (in 2024, according to the European Commission, there were around 93 million people in the EU at risk of poverty or social exclusion, equivalent to 21.0 percent of the total population).
When editing a raft of news articles about last week’s summit, I remembered the fitting remarks by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who at a regular press conference in Beijing on July 9, when asked by Bloomberg about von der Leyen’s claim that for China-EU economic ties to move forward they needed to undergo “genuine rebalancing”, said: “We also hope the EU will see that what needs ‘rebalancing’ is not China-EU economic ties per se, but the EU’s mindset”.
Absolutely! Mindsets are crucial in politics because they shape how countries perceive and respond to challenges, opportunities, and each other. Politics is as much about psychology as policy.
I hope that European politicians’ mindsets toward China will become more balanced by being less determined by economic envy, ideology-driven prejudice, and cultural ignorance.
My journalistic experience as a European living in China suggests that Chinese leaders, particularly in the past decade, know much more about European politics than their counterparts know about China.
On a positive note, I am happy that last week’s summit produced an agreement on enhancing bilateral cooperation in energy transition and a commitment to accelerating global renewable energy deployment.
China-EU cooperation on tackling climate change is of utmost importance for humanity’s survival. Both together cover about 9.3 percent of Earth’s land mass.
Despite its carbon intensity, China has more renewable energy capacity than the next seven countries put together, leads global EV, solar and wind supply chains, and is pioneering efficient energy use through rapidly expanding smart-city digital infrastructure.*
On the climate protection front, the EU and China could learn a lot from each other.
So, let’s all root for a steady improvement in China-EU ties – the whole world will benefit from it, and rebalance our mindsets from fixed to growth-orientated.
– Harald Brüning
*https://www.bailliegifford.com/
