China–EU technology relations in the new era

The Scale of the China–EU Partnership

When Xi Jinping addressed the College of Europe in Bruges, he framed the relationship around four partnerships: civilisation, growth, reform, and peace. The ambition was straightforward — two of the world's largest economies learning to move together.

Trade between China and the EU runs to many hundreds of billions of dollars a year, or more than a million dollars every minute — a volume that makes the relationship far deeper and wider than most commentary acknowledges.

What China Brings to the Table

China's leverage in the partnership rests on three pillars. First, economic scale: consumption drove 59% of China's growth in 2017, with online retail sales exceeding one trillion US dollars. Emerging sectors — new energy, digital economy — outperformed the broader market. Second, green technology: China is the world's largest producer and seller of new-energy vehicles and has launched what is set to become the largest emissions-trading system on the planet. Third, innovation: since 2010, more than a quarter of new unicorn companies have been founded in China, a share that has reshaped the global startup landscape.

The Stakes for Europe

The practical argument for deeper China–EU technology cooperation is straightforward: neither side can afford to let disagreements on specific issues crowd out the bigger picture. China's technological and financial weight exceeds that of any single EU member state. For European research and innovation communities, that means engagement — on green development, digital infrastructure, and joint science — is more consequential now than at any previous point in the relationship.

Further reading

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