Sino-European Economic Relations

Date Published:

Abstract:

This paper addresses the evolution of economic relations between Europe, especially the European Union, and China over the past two decades, since the emergence of China as a significant player in the world economy. Data on the dramatic increases in trade and financial flows are presented, and comparisons made with the United States. Official dialogue between the EU and China is also addressed. In the economic realm, the parallel between Chinese–EU developments and Chinese–American developments is remarkable, both in trade and in foreign direct investment. Both bargained hard to gain market access from China on the latter?s accession to the WTO and share similar concerns with the trade and economic policies of contemporary China. While official contact between the EU and China is extensive, China remains relatively low in EU priorities, which are heavily focused on the evolution of the EU itself and on its immediate neighborhood. Europe lacks the security commitment to East Asia of the United States, and that lends a remoteness to China, which growing economic relations may eventually overcome.

Notes:

Cooper, Richard. "Sino-European Economic Relations." Working Paper 05–03, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, June 2005.