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Not seeing eye to eye: perception of the China-EU economic relationship

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Abstract

Economic relationship has been the cornerstone of the China-EU relation as well as the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership which was established in 2003. On the other side of the coin, economic relations have been main sources of disputes between China and the EU since the 2005–2006 textile disputes. This paper examines their mutual perceptions in this field as one way of explaining the development of the bilateral relationship, supported by substantial empirical data. It is found that the successful economic development of China has generated different perceptions between the EU and China. With the difference in the development level reducing, the EU side was concerned more about the rise of China, while the Chinese side emphasised more the relative decline of the EU’s economic might.

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Notes

  1. The project has generated data on media representation of, public opinion on, and elite attitude toward the EU in twenty-six countries, for more details, see https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/ncre/research/euperceptions/.

  2. These included EU Council, European Central Bank, European Commission, European Council, European Court of Justice, and European Parliament. News items mentioned any EU member states would not come into the dataset until the EU or the major institutions listed here was also mentioned.

  3. The search terms were “Asia,” “Asian,” “Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM),” “Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),” “South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC),” and “Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).”.

  4. The Europe Voice was monitored in Brussels. De Morgen and De Standaard in Belgium-Flandre region and La Libre Belgique and Le Soir in Belgium-Wallonie were monitored. Der Standard and Kronen Zeitung were monitored in Austria. Ekstra Bladet and Jyllands-Posten were monitored in Denmark. Le Figaro and Le Monde were monitored in France. Bild and Süddeutsche Zeitung were monitored in Germany. Corriere della Sera and Il Giornale were monitored in Italy. Adevarul and Libertatea were monitored in Romania. Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph were monitored in the UK.

  5. First-hand data from an interview of “Asia in the Eyes of Europe,” interview conducted in London in 2011.

  6. First-hand data from an interview of “China in the Eyes of the EU,” interview conducted in Brussels in 2015.

  7. Ibid.

  8. First-hand data from an interview of “Asia in the Eyes of Europe,” interview conducted in Beijing in 2011.

  9. First-hand data from an interview of “China in the Eyes of the EU,” interview conducted in Brussels in 2015.

  10. First-hand data from interviews of “China in the Eyes of the EU,” interviews conducted in Brussels and Berlin in 2019.

  11. First-hand data from an interview of “China in the Eyes of the EU,” interview conducted in Brussels in 2019.

  12. First-hand data from an interview of “EU in the eyes of Asia–Pacific” conducted in Shanghai in 2015.

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Funding

European Commission, Jean Monnet Project "New Phase of EU-China relation for 2020-2030" (no. 620652-EPP-1-2020-1-CN-EPPJMO-PROJECT)

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  1. Centre for European Studies, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China

    Suetyi LAI

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LAI, S. Not seeing eye to eye: perception of the China-EU economic relationship. Asia Eur J 21, 137–154 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-023-00658-w

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