On Thursday 16 November, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, gave a speech at the Conference on Europe and China 2023, the third of its kind, organised by the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Mercator Institute for China Studies, in the run-up to an EU-China Summit scheduled for early December (see EUROPE 13271/3).
“Our relationship with China is a determining factor in our future economic prosperity and security. (...) In these turbulent times, there is strong need for strategic stability in how we deal with China”, she said.
With regard to trade relations, she pointed out that in 2022 China’s trade surplus with the EU was the highest ever recorded, at just under €400 billion, and that at the same time China had become less welcoming to foreign companies.
She expressed the EU’s determination to protect its interests and achieve a level playing field in its trade relations with China, by resolving disagreements through dialogue.
The President of the Commission also presented the Global Gateway strategy (see EUROPE 13280/6) as a central element of diversification to reduce the risks of dependence on China.
She went on to say that China downplayed the importance of universal rules, asserted the primacy of national interests and that its views on the “global security architecture” were not in line with those of the EU.
However, “cooperation with China on global issues is possible and is happening. Think about climate change”, she stressed.
Lastly, Mrs von der Leyen said that China cannot be seen solely as a trading partner or an industrial power. “We must also consider it as a technological competitor, a military power, a global player with its own conception - different from ours - of world order”. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)