BusinessEurope paper: EU-China: Engaging with a systemic rival

19 July 2022 - Today, BusinessEurope published its new paper on “EU-China relations – Engaging with a systemic rival” coinciding with the EU-China High-Level Economic Dialogue. The paper, which should be read in conjunction with BusinessEurope’s 2020 publication “The EU and China: addressing the systemic challenge”, highlights challenges and risks in contemporary EU-China relations but also emphasises the importance of EU-China cooperation in certain areas, particularly where multilateral solutions are needed. The paper sets out policy recommendations for creating the conditions for closer cooperation with China in two specific areas: climate policy and standardisation.

BusinessEurope President Fredrik Persson said:  "EU-China relations are facing considerable challenges. On trade and investment significant asymmetries remain, including a lack of reciprocity in market access and an unlevel playing field in some sectors. China’s increased assertiveness and the supply chain disruptions resulting from China’s zero-COVID policy are creating additional risk factors for companies. China is and will remain a major market for European companies, but overreliance and exposure risks should be carefully assessed”.

“Despite these challenges, our economies are strongly interdependent. We face many common global challenges that need collective solutions and collaboration between the EU and China. Cooperation is necessary in areas such as climate policy and standardisation but both sides need to show political willingness and commitment to achieve concrete results."

The paper “EU-China – Engaging with a systemic rival” can be downloaded here.