China is Europe’s biggest source of imports, accounting for 22% in 2021. Ĭhina was the third largest destination for EU goods exports, accounting for 10% of the total, according to Eurostat data. The total value of the goods trade between China and Europe hit €696 billion ($732 billion) last year, up by nearly a quarter from 2019. “Any problems you have from a political and strategic level, they tend to spill over to the economic level,” Ricardo Borges de Castro, associate director at the European Policy Centre, told CNN Business.īoth sides have a lot invested in their partnership. Those concerns bubbled up last month when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Beijing with a delegation of top business leaders to meet Xi, a move intended to shore up Germany’s second biggest export market after the US. Speaking at a conference in Berlin on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the “dangerous dependency” of some countries on Russian natural gas should cause the alliance to “assess dependencies on other authoritarian states, not least China.” Nord Stream 2, which is owned by Russian energy company Gazprom, was due to transport Russian natural gas from Russia to Germany before Berlin halted the project's certification in February after Moscow invaded Ukraine. The receiving station for the now-defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline stands at twilight on Februnear Lubmin, Germany. The bloc has been badly burned this year by its historic reliance on Russia as its main energy supplier, and diversification has shot up the political agenda. Michel’s spokesperson, Barend Leyts, said in a statement last week that Michel’s visit provides a “timely opportunity” for Europe and China to engage on matters of “common interest.” He did not specify which subjects would be discussed.īut some within Europe are growing wary of close relations with China. The United States, which imposed controls on exports of semiconductors to China in October, is reportedly exerting pressure on Europe to adopt a similarly hard line. The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and tit-for-tat sanctions between China and EU lawmakers have strained relations since. It’s a calculation EU Council President Charles Michel weighed up on Thursday when he visited Chinese leader Xi Jinping for talks aimed at shoring up diplomatic ties.Īt the meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi told Michel that China was “ready to strengthen strategic communication and coordination with the European side,” according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.Ī lot has happened since the last time an EU president - appointed by the leaders of the 27 EU member states - met with Xi in person four years ago. Europe is becoming increasingly reliant on China for trade, and many of its top companies are eager to invest in the world’s second biggest economy despite the disruption caused by Covid lockdowns.īut a souring relationship with an increasingly unpredictable Beijing, regret about the price Europe has paid for getting too close to Russia, and rising geopolitical tension has some EU officials considering whether the bloc should start to reduce its exposure.
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