Analysis of Foreign Affairs Between China and European Union

China's Policy Papers, EU-China Summit and One Belt One Road Initiative

The EU and China are both characterized by multiple identities: they can't be considered as conventional nations because, in reality, they are two huge, assorted, multiethnic and multinational political entities. These diverse personalities become more and more important as we talk about the EU-China relationship. It is interesting since all the possible connections and decisions inside this set of relationship can change or reinforce the identities involved.

The EU-China Relationship – An Introduction

The diplomatic relations between the European Union and China were established in 1975 and are ruled by the 1985 EU-China Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

These two are still leading partners as regards trade. The actual commerce exchange between China and the EU is around 1 billion per day. In addition, China is the second largest partner of the EU while this one is the first one for China.

EU-China trade has risen dramatically in the last decades and the EU remains China's biggest trading partner also after the crisis. China is the world's third economy and the biggest exporter in the global economy, but also an increasingly important political power.

Since 1994, the European Union and China have strengthened the political dialogue with the creation of a network between foreign ministers, ambassadors, and experts. This dialogue allowed an exchange of points of view on the respective political conditions, on strategic issues such as the international situation, on the control of the spread of weapons and on the issue of human rights.

Another milestone is the Strategic Partnership signed 2003 that means that an EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership was launched. In October 2006 it was followed by the European document called “EU-China: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities” and a policy paper on Trade, proposing for a closer and more comprehensive partnership with China.

China's White Papers on EU

The term White papers are generally used to indicate an official report published by a national government or by an international organization on a given topic or sector of activity. As regards foreign affairs with the European Union, China released the first White paper in 2003. It was the first-ever White paper on relations with a foreign partner published by China. In total China released three policy papers on EU. The first two policy papers on the EU were issued by the Chinese government in 2003 and 2014 and they provided important guidance to the development of China-EU relations. L

'Guided by the annual China-EU Summit and focusing on the three pillars of political, economic and people-to-people exchanges, China and the EU have promoted all-dimensional, multi-tiered and wide-ranging cooperation to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.'1 ‘China’s Policy Paper on the EU: Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-Win Cooperation’, accessed 19 June 2019.

The document is divided in these following sections that summarize the contents of the policy paper:

• Seize the Opportunity to Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-win Cooperation
• China's EU Policy in the New Era
• Cooperation in the Political Field
• Economic Cooperation and Trade
• Cooperation on Urbanization
• Fiscal and Financial Cooperation
• Cooperation on Industry, Agriculture, Transportation, Science and Technology and
• Information Technology
• Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Protection, Water Resources and Maritime
• Cooperation
• Cooperation in the Fields of Education, Culture, Press, Publication and Youth Exchange
• Social, Health, Judicial and Administrative Cooperation

Talking about the second chapter entitled 'China's EU Policy in the New Era', China expresses its willingness to cooperate and work with the EU and its member states to achieve the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation. The aim is to deepen the reform in China and the economic restoration active in Europe. The focus is on building a successful partnership for peace, growth, reform, and civilization and putting under the spotlight the global impact of China-EU relations.

All these different partnerships are centered on various topics. The China-EU partnership for peace aims to create a 'peaceful, stable, equitable and orderly development environment for all countries.'1 ‘China’s Policy Paper on the EU: Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-Win Cooperation’, accessed 19 June 2019.

At the same time, the China-EU partnership for growth brings the Chinese and European markets closer to build a community and an open world economy.

China-EU partnership for reform expresses how China wants to work with the EU to better align itself with the European reform. China expresses also the desire to join in the creation of the rules of global governance. The partnership for civilization means bringing closer one civilizations from the East and one from the West and letting them be an example for the others. It means looking for 'uniformity, promoting diversity, learning from each other and enjoying common prosperity.'

Another important aspect is the 'Cooperation in the Political Field' that refers to the dialog on Deepening High-Level Exchanges and Political Dialogue, Strengthening Coordination and Cooperation in International Affairs, Enhancing Cooperation and Exchange Between Legislative Bodies and Political Parties, Expanding Defense and Security Cooperation, Abiding by the One-China Principle (Taiwan), Encouraging Hong Kong and Macao's Cooperation with the EU, Properly Handling Tibet-Related Issue and Continuing to Carry Out Human Rights Dialogue.

The Last White Paper

Always based on the previous two policy papers, the third one released by China on EU points out the actions necessary to intensify the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the again era and promote China-EU relations.

What about China’s Latest EU Policy Paper Released in 2018?

After the first policy paper and the second, China waited 11 years while for the release of the third one it took just 4 years. The reason is that China felt the urgent necessity to renew the collaboration with the EU because of a significant absence of interest in the EU for the BRI.

This policy paper was a call for “active participation of the EU and other European countries in a joint effort” in the BRI, meaning that the initiative is still a work in progress in Europe.

What is new? China’s position is tougher on the political front of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet. It's also written that “The European side should view China’s human rights conditions in an objective and fair manner and refrain from interfering in China’s internal affairs and judicial sovereignty in the name of human rights.”2 Julian Chan Diplomat The, ‘What’s New About China’s Latest EU Policy Paper?’, The Diplomat, accessed 19 June 2019, https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/whats-new-about-chinas-latest-eu-policy-paper/. This indicates that the gap in this argument is wider than before.

As regards trade, there's the presentation of a new project: China has the idea to create a China-EU Free Trade Area. In addition, it's mentioned the plan for Chinese companies in Europe to set up the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU.2 Ibidem Starting from trade and business exchanges based on mutual trust and understanding for both partners, it would be possible to reduce tensions and differences.

EU-China Summit

The first EU-China annual summit took place on the 2nd of April 1988 in London. At the 21st EU-China summit on the 9th of April 2019, they argued to further strengthen the strategic partnership and to adopt a new cooperation agenda beyond 2020 by the next summit. President Donald Tusk and President Jean-Claude Juncker represented the EU at the summit while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang represented China.

This summit is one of the last meetings between these two allies and is useful to understand how their collaboration is developing currently. Leaders discussed the efforts to face climate change and agreed to intensify the efforts as regards the Paris Agreement. They also discussed possible cooperation to tackle problems like biodiversity loss or maritime pollution.

In addition to the joint statement, the parties also signed: a memorandum of understanding on a dialogue in the area of the state aid control and the fair competition review, an agreement on the terms of reference of the EU-China competition policy dialogue, and a joint statement on the implementation of the EU-China cooperation on energy.

In conclusion, the EU and China reaffirmed the desire to work together for China's belt and road initiative to improve Europe-Asia connectivity.

What About the Future? One Belt One Road Initiative Between China and EU

This initiative has strenghtened for sure the exchanges and the connections between China and the European Union. If it's going to become reality, all the agreements and the metting cited before will only be a small part in the foreign affairs between these two collaborators.

'One Belt and One Road Initiative' is a project that wants to improve connectivity and collaboration between China and other 70 countries, with the idea of building a united Eurasian economic area. BRI involves more than the 60% of the world’s population and 33% of global GDP.

The One-Belt-One-Road initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 and today is one of the milestones of Chinese economic diplomacy.

Thanks to six transport corridors, both by land and by sea, it will allow China to expand trade routes and deepen the existing economic relations with the European Union.

The Corridor Routes

The initiative is planned to be composed of six routes that are also called corridor routes: China-Mongolia-Russia, New Eurasia Bridge, China-Central Asia-West Asia, Indo-China Peninsula, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and Bangladesh-China-India-Burma.

The new Eurasian land bridge is composed by an international railway that will connect the Chinese province of Jangsu to Rotterdam and will reduce the average time of shipment of goods from five at three weeks.

The China - Mongolia - Russia corridor will be implemented through the combination of railways and motorways and the introduction of customs and transport facilities between the three countries.

Furthermore, a link will be established between China - Central Asia - Western Asia from the Chinese province of Xinjang to the Mediterranean coasts and the Arabian peninsula.

The China - Indochinese Peninsula corridor will connect the country in Singapore, contributing to the development of the states along the Mekong river that are Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Lastly, the China - Pakistan and the Bangladesh - China - India - Myanmar corridor will be built.

In addition to the two routes, maritime and terrestrial, in January 2018 the Chinese government announced the intention to build a Polar Silk Road, which is planned to be developed along three routes through the Arctic: a passage in the northeast in Russia, one central and one north-west in Canada. Recently China has also expressed the intention to create an Aerial Silk Road to help increase the country's connections with the rest of the world and strengthen the national aeronautical industry.

BRI Cooperation Areas

Policy Co-ordination

All the countries that will be part of the BRI initiative will, in an equal and balanced consultation, collectively solve problems, design development plans and measures for promoting cross-national or regional collaboration.

Facilities Connectivity

The progress for the construction of infrastructure facilities and land-water intermodal transport passages will be promoted. The aim is to build an infrastructure network that links different Asian sub-regions with other parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Facilitate Unimpeded Trade

A lot of effort will be required to tackle investment and trade facilitation problems, decrease investment and trade restrictions and support regional economic integration.

Financial Integration

An important mission is to expand the range of local currency agreement and exchange in trade and investment between the countries involved. In addition, it's necessary to increase financial cooperation and improve the ability to manage financial risks within regional agreements.

People-to-people Bonds

It's necessary to promote cultural exchanges and dialogues in order to set the basis for the improvement of regional cooperation.

Eight Transformation Factors

The Belt and Road initiative will connect economically and socially all the countries that take part in the projects. We can define the following eight 'transformation factors' that represent the spine line of the collaboration between the future members. They are Shared Vision, Multilateralism, Project-Preparation Facility, Risk Mitigation, Sustainable Development, Innovation, People-to-People Exchange, and Human-centric and Future-ready.

Investments

The main goals of the 'Belt and Road', also called BRI, are the creation of a new market, the improvement of national economic security and the creation of investment opportunities to increase capital income. To handle the financing problem, China has created a designated fund, the $ 40 billion Silk Road Fund to support infrastructure development and the manufacturing industry of the countries involved in the initiative.

Between 2014 and 2017 China has already invested 70 billion dollars in 1,400 projects for the construction of railways, ports, and roads. Further investments of 130 billion dollars are planned for 2022, and this is for sure a big oppurtunity not only for China but for all the countries involved.

Conclusions

In addition, another opportunity concerns 'triangular cooperation' that means the development of collaborations between Chinese companies and foreign companies for the realization of commercial initiatives and joint projects in third countries. The sharing of their respective strengths can create mutual benefits in different geographical areas.

It's easy to say that, if this project will become reality, all world's economy will change. This is a plan located mostly in the Eurasian and North African area but is something that all the world has to take into consideration for the future. Above all in the first period, foreign countries will participate in the realization of large infrastructure projects useful also as regards job opportunities.

One of the most significant effects of the Chinese initiative is the opening of new markets and the intensification of trade relations with geographical areas that have not been completely explored since today.