Developing a comprehensive EU strategy towards China

On 11-12 October 2012 the EU Institute for Security Studies organised an expert meeting in Paris on the topic ‘Developing a comprehensive EU strategy towards China’. Attended by a number of experts and policymakers, this seminar examined and assessed EU policy towards China in the following fields: trade, investment, the euro and global economic governance, environment and resources, defence and security, politics, and the regional context. The participants concluded that China represents a great opportunity but also a challenge for the EU. From the discussion, it emerged that a dual and sometimes overlapping image of China exists across Europe: that of a rising power challenging the Old Continent’s values and standards of living; and that of an enormous opportunity for European companies and EU global aspirations. Given this situation, devising the right approach towards Beijing is possibly one of the greatest tasks currently facing the EU. In this vein, the participants proposed and discussed a number of suggestions with the aim to assist EU policymakers in developing a more coherent and strategic approach towards China.