EU-China: Ever Closer Cooperation?

December 9th 2004, Residence Palace, Brussels

Photo Gallery

China's Peaceful Rising (pdf) - Presentation by Wang Zaibang

Information Pack (pdf) - Updated 07/12/04

EU-China? Ever Closer Cooperation?
December 9th 2004, Residence Palace, Brussels

The EU’s relations with China have greatly intensified since the early 1990s, through trade and investment, reinforced through the European Commission’s communications calling for a deeper engagement between the EU and China. The EU has sought to develop its engagement with China through numerous cooperation initiatives across a number of fields, in particular trade, investment, development, science and technology, political dialogue, governance and civil society and cultural exchange.

The search for an ‘Ever Closer Cooperation’ appears to be one of the leitmotivs in the construction of the EU-China relation.

In recognition of this fact the European Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Brussels Office of the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, the European Institute for Asian Studies, and the European Policy Centre will hold this conference.

The Conference will seek to assess the results of this approach for EU-China, taking stock of the latest developments in EU-China relations as emerged at the Hague summit. The Conference will be of particular importance to all of those professionally engaged in EU-Asia relations, in particular Members of the European Parliament and their staff, officials of the European Commission, officials of the Permanent Representation to the EU, research analysts and academic scholars studying EU-China and representatives of international business.

During the first session, the Conference will take stock of the outcomes of the seventh EU-China Summit, reflecting the viewpoint of the key players – the Presidency of the EU, a senior representative of the People’s Republic of China, a senior official of the European Commission as well as a Member of the European Parliament from its Delegation for relations with China.

The second session will examine the crucial political security issues that are of joint interest to the EU and China, in particular, the implications of the continuing war in Iraq and the outcomes of the US Presidential elections. It will also focus on issues which may limit the scope for cooperation between the EU and China, in particular the (non) lifting of the EU arms embargo and the issues of human rights protection in the PRC. The long-term implications for the strengthening of ‘effective multilateralism’ will be assessed.

The third session will examine the prospects for EU-China economic and political relations in light of the rise of China in the region and globally. In what ways will East Asia’s regional balance of power shift and what are the implications for the EU and, more generally, global governance? Will East Asia, spearheaded by China, emerge as a global partner for the EU, contributing towards genuine multi-polarity? The state-of-play of China’s membership of the WTO will be examined, in light of the decision of the European Commission to not yet grant ‘market-economy status’ to the People's Republic of China.

Photo Gallery

China's Peaceful Rising (pdf) - Presentation by Wang Zaibang

For more information, download the Information Pack (pdf) - Updated 07/12/04