Challenges and Opportunities in the EU-China Trade Relations

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter analyses European Union-China trade relations in the context of the current negotiations for a new comprehensive framework agreement between the European Union (EU) and the People’s Republic of China. China is a strong economic power with increasingly sophisticated production in its coastal regions and is attempting to establish itself as a gravity centre by concluding many bilateral free-trade agreements in the region. Although China has a strong hold in the Far East, there may be specific policy areas in which China’s influence ends up being global. The chapter consolidates China’s relations with the European Union, addressing the main arguments that were considered during the ratification process of the Treaty of Lisbon. It examines the mechanisms behind the initiative that provided for a permanent president of the European Council and a single foreign affairs post for the entire EU, which facilitated the EU’s coherence in its external affairs. Moreover, the chapter concludes that the European Commission should negotiate the prospective Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and China more constructively, without patronizing, and instead accept China as an equal player in the current multipolar framework of global economic governance.KeywordsChinese economic powerBilateral free-tradeTreaty of LisbonPartnership and Cooperation Agreement