ByJian Junbo
China-EU Summit is being held in Beijing on Thursday. Despite maintaining steady growth and achieving fruitful cooperation over the past 50 years, China-EU relations are facing multiple challenges, including the "securitization" of bilateral economic relations, trade imbalances and U.S. trade protectionism, among others. A healthy and stable China-EU relationship, however, is not only vital to both sides but also conducive to the stability and prosperity of the international community. In any case, China-EU cooperation is an inevitable choice for both sides for the following reasons.
First of all, both China and Europe are open economies. Following the end of the Cold War, China actively sought to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and successfully became a member, thereby integrating itself more fully into the international economic system.
On this basis, China quickly emerged as an international economic manufacturing hub, and its foreign investment also grew rapidly, becoming a significant force in promoting economic globalization following the end of the Cold War.
As the most developed common market, the EU is also one of the most open economies globally. Its low-level foreign tariff and large foreign direct investment are remarkable. Germany, as the largest economy in the EU, due to its strong manufacturing capabilities and high dependence on the international market, is a leader in implementing the EU's opening up.
Therefore, as the world's two largest open economies, China and the EU have broad common interests in promoting global free trade and opposing trade protectionism and improper investment barriers. In the face of the protectionist measures of the Trump administration of the U.S., China and Europe have no choice but to work together to resist them.
Furthermore, the common responsibility of global governance. In the contemporary world, various global issues continue to challenge the security, economic development, and social order of all countries.
As two major forces with a significant influence on the international community, China and Europe have a shared obligation to respond jointly through cooperation. Take climate change as an example, it involves carbon dioxide emission restrictions, carbon trading and carbon taxes, the prohibition of deforestation and grassland destruction, the research and development of new energy technologies, the preservation of biodiversity, the management of climate and ecological refugees, among other measures.
The resolution of all these issues requires the cooperation of the international community. As two major forces that attach great importance to and take active steps to respond to climate change, China and Europe's cooperation in international multilateral institutions and dialogue, as well as their coordination of action at the bilateral level, is of great significance to the success of promoting international governance of climate change.
Regarding issues like international peacekeeping, digital and robotics regulation, public health, anti‑piracy measures and waterway safety, China and Europe can advance only by strengthening cooperation rather than by confronting or ignoring one another.
Moreover, stable development of a multipolar order. Today, with the rapid development of emerging economies, notably China, and their participation in international multilateral platforms, multipolarization has become unstoppable, which is also one of the most significant reasons for the profound transformation of the current international order. However, multipolarization itself does not inherently guarantee the stability of the international community. This is because, during the process of multipolarization, the original balance of power is disrupted, and countries or organizations that gain additional power will be encouraged to claim additional rights and advantages, while those that lose their dominant position will be motivated to regain their lost status. Therefore, multipolarization means a change in the status quo.
If various forces no longer adhere to the commonly recognized established principles, rules and norms, these changes will bring chaos and disorder to the international community. Today, China and Europe both acknowledge the reality of multipolarization and recognize the need for and expectation of a stable and secure international order transformation.
China proposes "equal and orderly" multipolarization, and the EU also advocates multipolarization based on multilateralism. At the same time, as two important forces in the international community, both respect multilateral organizations, with the UN as the core, and uphold the UN Charter and its principles. Therefore, China and Europe have a strong consensus basis for joint cooperation in promoting the smooth development of multipolarization.
Regardless of how the international landscape evolves, the deeply rooted shared interests and mutual responsibilities between China and Europe remain unchanged. Looking ahead to the next 50 years, even as competition and occasional divergences persist, sustained collaboration and joint responses to global challenges will remain not only necessary, but the most pragmatic and constructive path forward for both sides.
Jian Junbo, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University, Shanghai.