International News (Reporter Lin Weiwei, Xi Jing, Cheng Mo, Bu Weijun): As agreed by China and the EU, the 24th China-EU Summit will be held in Beijing on December 7. The meeting coincides with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU Summit mechanism, and is also the first China-EU summit to be held offline since the pandemic. Observers from many European countries believe that in the face of the changing and chaotic international situation, China and the EU should take this summit as an opportunity to enhance mutual trust, strengthen cooperation, and jointly address many global challenges.
Piotr Gadzinowski, former editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper Tribune and former Polish congressman, said that after the meeting between the heads of state of China and the United States, both sides expressed their willingness to return to rational competition, and EU-China relations will also benefit from the easing of Sino-US relations. China is the EU's most important non-European economic partner, and in many areas even more important than the United States. China is also an important economic partner of Poland, and Poland hopes that Chinese companies will increase their investment in Poland, especially the modernization and expansion of railway infrastructure related to the China-Europe freight train.
Zhang Ge, president of the Austrian-Chinese Business Association and a well-known Austrian lawyer, believes that it is a mistake to form a group to confront China. The EU proposed not to "decouple" from China but to "de-risk", and large German and French companies realized that decoupling means that they will lose the Chinese market, especially Europe, which will suffer huge losses. The trend towards deindustrialization in Europe is already evident, and this could lead to a further recession. Therefore, the balance of power should be achieved, not competing and marginalized!
Austrian freelance journalist Martin Soros believes that at the upcoming China-EU summit, the European side should explain to the Chinese side the exact meaning of "de-risking". He said that China's economy is now very strong and in fact no longer dependent on Europe. Partners willing to cooperate with China include Africa, BRICS+ countries, Latin America, and European countries such as Hungary and Serbia. Even Australia is moving closer to China. In other words, Europe needs China far more than China needs Europe. ”
Urusov Volodymyr, associate professor of the Department of History of Kyiv National University in Ukraine, said that both Europe and China have a long history and ideological tradition, and exchanges and mutual learning between Europe and Chinese are of great significance in the global dialogue of ideas. Aristotle's ideas of "middle way" and "friendship" have something in common with the Chinese Confucian ideas of "moderation" and "benevolence". Urusov also spoke highly of China's announcement of visa-free access to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, and believed that this move will inject new impetus into EU-China economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
On the 4th, China's spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China and the EU are partners rather than rivals, and the common interests of the two sides far outweigh their differences. China expects the summit to play an important role in building on the past and forging ahead into the future, enhancing understanding and mutual trust through strategic communication, strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation through pioneering and innovation, solving problems through dialogue and consultation, and cooperating to address global challenges, injecting new impetus into the world economy, adding stability to the international situation, and providing strategic guidance for the sustained and healthy development of China-EU relations.
*:* Radio and Television International**.