Elements for a new EU strategy on China

The EU and China are two of the three largest economies and traders in the world. Both have changed considerably since the Commission's previous Communication on China a decade ago. The rise of China has happened with unprecedented scale and speed. Not only is China different internally than it was before the current leadership took over in 2013, but China's increased weight and a renewed emphasis on "going global" mean that it is seeking a bigger role and exerting greater influence on an evolving system of global governance.

The EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation fulfils an important role as the highest-level joint document guiding the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. But the EU needs its own strategy, one which puts its own interests at the forefront in the new relationship; which promotes universal values; which recognises the need for and helps to define an increased role for China in the international system; and is based on a positive agenda of partnership coupled with the constructive management of differences.

This Joint Communication proposes elements for a new EU strategy on China. It is intended to constitute the China dimension of implementing the Juncker Commission's political guidelines, contributing to the jobs, growth and investment agenda and to reinforcing the EU as a global actor. It dovetails with the European Commission's "Trade for All" strategy and takes into account the views of the European Parliament in its December 2015 report on the EU's relations with China, aiming to set out a policy framework for EU engagement with China for the next five years.

ESO: Background information: The European Union sets its sights high on ambitions with China http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-the-european-union-sets-its-sights-high-on-ambitions-with-china/

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