The Elusive Axis: Assessing the EU-China Strategic Partnership

Abstract: This article evaluates whether the Sino-European partnership can be considered strategic. At the discourse level it is found that both sides fail to identify common interests, joint priorities continue to be concentrated in the business sector, and China and Europe have not been able to determine what the relevance of their relationship is compared to other powers. In practice this is even more problematic. The strategic vacuum renders the partnership vulnerable to setbacks and means that China will be even more tempted to capitalize on Europe's internal divisions while Member States will feel less inclined to close ranks.