If China wants the EU as a partner, it must offer concrete cooperation
Hesitation is no longer an option. China and the European Union must redefine their partnership now or accept lasting estrangement. Donald Trump's return as US president has thrown the global order into flux, pulling Europe closer to China – but that opening will not last indefinitely.
Advertisement
For years, China spoke of win-win cooperation while sidestepping the issues straining relations. Brussels' concerns grew as Beijing dismissed them: non-reciprocal market access, weighty trade imbalances, a rising dependence on critical assets and conflicting industrial policies. When Europe pressed for solutions, China offered broad assurances but preserved the practices widening the divide.
The
Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), signed in late 2020 after
seven years of negotiation, expanded Europe's access to China's market while offering Beijing limited practical gains beyond recognition of its investment ambitions. It addressed most of the issues the EU sees as core problems but ratification froze soon after with the arrival of US president Joe Biden.
The stalemate was no accident. Europe's reliance on Chinese markets and fractured China policy prevented a unified response. When it finally acted, its scattered 'de-risking' efforts,
tariffs on electric vehicles , record
trade investigations against China last year and shifting rhetoric – from overcapacity claims to security threats – missed the fundamental issues and fuelled escalation.
Meanwhile, Beijing, focused on sustaining domestic growth, saw little reason to revise policies that still delivered results, keeping compromise off the table. As the EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo recently said, China had been ignoring EU concerns over trade issues for the past two decades.
Advertisement
The forces shaping this relationship have now changed. The global setting is entering a new phase, where the space for ambiguity has all but closed. Three developments make this clear.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
40 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China's orchard of AI, chip grads now ripe for the pickin' as tech trade sours
When Jack Wang enrolled as an undergraduate in microelectronics at a prestigious Chinese university, the year was 2019, and China was in the early days of its trade war with the United States. Advertisement Looking back, his decision to focus on the field revolving around the design and manufacture of hi-tech microchips has proved prescient. Today, it complements Beijing's aspirations to make world-leading semiconductors amid Washington's amped-up efforts to curtail China's technological progress. Indeed, the sector has grown by leaps and bounds in the six years since Wang laid out his focus of study, and it now serves as the backbone for artificial intelligence (AI) advancements. 'I realised that this industry was booming, and AI had been kind of popular back then – it just wasn't as capable as it is today,' he said. 2019 was also the year that China's Ministry of Education approved the first batch of AI majors at 35 universities, following an action plan in 2018 that sought to turn Chinese universities into global talent hubs leading the development of next-generation AI by 2030. Advertisement Today, more than 535 universities in China offer AI-related majors, and nearly half of the world's top AI researchers are from the country, according to recent findings by Morgan Stanley. That massive pool of AI talent, in a nation of 1.4 billion people, is giving China a competitive edge in the field that has become a defining battleground in global technological and geopolitical competition, researchers and industry professionals say.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Why China remains world's best chance for peace in Ukraine
The International Organisation for Mediation launched in Hong Kong late last month, counting 32 countries as founding signatories. An institution designed to supplement and actualise Article 33 of the United Nations Charter is something the world increasingly needs as Russia's invasion of Ukraine drags into its fourth year. Advertisement Recent peace talks in Istanbul produced no appreciable progress , while swings on the battlefield have long since given way to a grinding impasse. Neither side appears capable of achieving peace, much less victory on the battlefield. Meanwhile, sanctions, weapons deliveries and rhetorical escalation continue to deepen global fragmentation. However, peace could still be in reach if the thorniest issues are addressed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed openness to direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia has reiterated Moscow's willingness to support a UN-centred peace initiative for Ukraine, suggesting there is at least an opening. Both parties remain deeply divided. US-led efforts to push the two into accepting a ceasefire have so far failed, and it is little wonder why, given the challenges remaining. Nato does not hold the answer, and neither does the presence of US troops. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it clear that deploying US forces to Ukraine in a peacekeeping role is unacceptable. 'Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops,' he told a gathering of transatlantic alliance members in Brussels. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump admin launches review of Aukus submarine pact with Australia and UK
US President Donald Trump's administration has launched a formal review of a defence pact worth hundreds of billions of dollars that his predecessor Joe Biden made with Australia and the United Kingdom, allowing Australia to acquire conventionally armed nuclear submarines, a US defence official said. Advertisement The formal Pentagon-led review is likely to alarm Australia, which sees the submarines as critical to its own defence as tensions grow over China's expansive military build-up. It could also throw a wrench in Britain's defence planning. The Aukus security alliance is at the centre of a planned expansion of its submarine fleet. 'We are reviewing Aukus as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the president's America First agenda,' the official said of the review, which was first reported by the Financial Times. 'Any changes to the administration's approach for Aukus will be communicated through official channels, when appropriate.' 02:52 China warns Aukus against going down 'dangerous road' over nuclear-powered submarine pact China warns Aukus against going down 'dangerous road' over nuclear-powered submarine pact Aukus, formed in 2021 to address shared worries about China's growing power, is designed to allow Australia to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
