The 24th China-EU Summit was held in Beijing on December 7. **The President met with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Premier Li Qiang co-chaired the meeting with the two EU Presidents.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU Summit mechanism and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Standing at a historical juncture that connects the past and the future, this meeting is of great significance to the future of China-EU relations and to the stability and development of the world.
The tone of China-EU relations has been strengthened while seeking progress while maintaining stability.
Through in-depth communication at the strategic level, China and the EU have calibrated and strategically guided their relations. The two sides agreed to maintain strategic stability in China-EU relations, and the EU reaffirmed its commitment to developing constructive and stable China-EU relations.
The strategic direction determines the overall situation and development prospects of China-EU relations. The strategic communication between the leaders of the two sides has laid the foundation for the development of China-EU relations while seeking progress while maintaining stability, pointed out the direction for the development of China-EU relations, and provided a good foundation for China and the EU to promote close exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields.
Strengthening dialogue and exchanges at all levels and in all fields will help China and the EU enhance mutual understanding, reduce mutual miscalculations, properly handle differences and expand common ground. During the meeting, the leaders of China and the EU confirmed the need to strengthen communication and exchanges, and will continue to promote the timely exchange of views between the two sides on important issues in various fields of concern, and agreed to hold a new meeting of the China-EU High-level People-to-People Exchange Dialogue Mechanism next year. This will help enhance trust and dispel doubts between China and the EU, build consensus, and consolidate the public opinion foundation of bilateral relations, so as to facilitate the further development of China-EU relations.
All-round, multi-level and wide-ranging practical cooperation is a fruitful achievement and a solid foundation for the development of China-EU relations, and the two sides have benefited a lot from the growing economic, trade and industrial cooperation. In the past 20 years, the amount of China and the EU has increased by nearly 9 times, the EU's investment in China has increased by nearly 3 times, and China's investment in the EU has grown from zero to hundreds of billions of US dollars. During the meeting, the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, green, geographical indications, intellectual property rights, carbon trading and emissions, which will help consolidate the foundation of cooperation between China and the EU and further expand the achievements of practical cooperation between China and the EU.
China and the EU have broad consensus on a range of global issues, which is an important area where the two sides can strengthen dialogue, coordination and cooperation. Both China and the EU are committed to upholding multilateralism and upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Major global issues such as climate change and artificial intelligence require greater dialogue between the two sides. The resolution of hotspot issues such as Ukraine and the Middle East is inseparable from the coordination and cooperation between China and the EU. At the China-EU summit, the two sides affirmed the need to strengthen dialogue and seek cooperation on the above-mentioned global issues, which will not only contribute to the constructive development of China-EU relations, but also have great positive significance for world peace and development.
Concerns that interfere with China-EU relations need to be dispelled.
Since 2019, the EU has undergone major adjustments in its China policy, proposing a "triple positioning" of "partner, economic competitor and institutional rival". This strategic positioning of China has a significant and far-reaching impact on the development of China-EU relations. Emphasizing differences and highlighting competition will only promote the self-fulfillment of these words, making it difficult to upgrade the quality of the relationship between the two sides. The "triple positioning" is like a dark cloud, hanging over the road of China-EU relations, and from time to time it rains on the healthy development of bilateral relations.
China has repeatedly stressed that there are no geopolitical contradictions or fundamental conflicts of interest between China and the EU. China and the EU are partners, not rivals, let alone institutional rivals. Europe should view and position China with a more objective and rational attitude, and develop China-EU relations with a more constructive attitude and a more long-term vision. Europe needs to make up for the "cognitive deficit" with China, jump out of the "triple positioning" with China, and promote greater progress in the development of China-EU relations.
Since the beginning of this year, the EU has vigorously promoted the "de-risking" of China, demanding that it get rid of its dependence on China's critical minerals, prevent Europe's cutting-edge technology from falling into China's hands, and restrict European companies from investing in China's high-tech fields. At the same time, Europe is increasingly dissatisfied with its deficit with China. To this end, the EU has launched a countervailing investigation into electric vehicles from China, and may launch a series of countervailing investigations into China's wind turbines, solar modules, steel and aluminum industries in the near future.
At this meeting, China and the EU agreed to make good use of the export control dialogue mechanism, establish an early warning mechanism for key raw materials between China and the EU, and build a stable and mutual trust chain partnership. These are more constructive measures than "de-risking". If Europe takes a proactive stance and works with China to achieve this, it will help curb the trend of "de-risking" in Europe towards China.
Countervailing investigations on Chinese products are not a good solution to the problems in China-EU economic and trade relations. If the EU subsequently imposes punitive tariffs on China's electric vehicles, it is difficult to guarantee that China will not retaliate, which could lead to a spiral of disputes. Seeking a more constructive way to solve the problems in China-EU economic and trade exchanges should become a more rational choice.
Third-party factors also often affect or even impact China-EU relations. In the previous period, the EU-China relationship has become more competitive, and Europe's China policy has emphasized factors such as political systems, ideologies, values, and differences between the two sides, and the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment has also been affected and stalled. Behind all this, we can see that Europe has been influenced by the repeated inducement and pressure factors of the United States. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Europe has made groundless accusations and exerted pressure on China, which is not a party to the crisis, which has brought tension to bilateral relations.
A mature and stable China-EU relationship is not targeted, dependent on, or subject to any third party. China has always supported Europe's independence, self-reliance and strategic autonomy. Europe should also proceed from the overall situation of maintaining and developing bilateral relations, work with China to build a more mature and stable bilateral relationship, and minimize the influence and impact of third-party powers and geopolitical factors on Europe's China policy.
The enormous potential of China-EU relations is worth tapping.
China and the EU have strong complementarities in terms of industrial structure, technological level and market demand, and the deepening practical cooperation in various fields will continue to bring great benefits to both sides. For Europe, exports to China support about 4 million jobs. By the end of 2022, China had set up more than 2,800 direct investment enterprises in Europe, employing more than 270,000 foreign employees. The development of stable and progressive China-EU relations and the promotion of sustained and in-depth cooperation in various fields between the two sides are of great significance to the respective development of China and the EU and the stability and prosperity of the Eurasian continent.
Today's world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, with the continuation of major power rivalry, prolonged regional conflicts, geopolitical resurgence, sluggish world economic recovery, and prominent global development imbalances. At the same time, global challenges such as climate change, terrorism, cybersecurity, and major infectious diseases continue unabated, and the rapid development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence has brought new governance needs, and the global peace deficit, development deficit, and governance deficit have become prominent.
As the two major global powers, strengthening dialogue, coordination and cooperation between China and the EU on a series of global issues will not only help balance the negative impacts of great power competition, geopolitics, regional conflicts and other factors, but will also have a strong exemplary and driving effect on other countries, leading the international community to unite and jointly address a series of major challenges that threaten the future of the world and mankind, and play a positive role in promoting global peace and development.
China and the EU should take this summit as an opportunity to stand at a new starting point for the past and forge ahead into the future, work together in the same direction, earnestly implement the strategic consensus reached at the summit, properly resolve the hidden concerns in the development of bilateral relations in a constructive manner, strive to build a mature and stable bilateral relationship, and contribute to the stability, development and prosperity of the Eurasian continent and the world. (Author: Cui Xiaotao, assistant researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Studies, China Institute of International Studies).
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