Europe and China Trade Negotiations: Can Brussels Face Reality? Part 2

The European Union still lacks an adequate understanding of the China it is negotiating with and of the world in which it now has to compete.

Geopolitics and the Illusions of Power: Europe’s Refusal to Adapt

It is more likely that Beijing will regard the issue as one relating to European competitiveness and demand, not merely to Chinese “unfairness”.

That is to say, Brussels wishes for China to alter certain aspects of its economic behaviour. Beijing, on the other hand, wants Europe to look at its own competitiveness and refrain from imposing protectionist restrictions. These constitute very different negotiating positions.

China has brought about the elimination of poverty for approximately 800 million people and has developed the largest middle class and one of the largest consumer markets in the world. It has likewise achieved astonishing progress in the fields of technology and infrastructure.

According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Critical Technology Tracker, China now leads the world in high-impact research in 69 of the 74 critical technologies monitored by the latest 2026 update. The United States leads in only five, while the European Union, taken as a bloc, leads in just three: gravitational-force sensors, geoengineering, and extended reality, although TU Delft leads in quantum computing. Recently, Europe has lost its leading position in small satellites’ high-impact research.

The figures are striking: China is no longer simply the world’s manufacturing powerhouse. It has established a commanding research position across the technologies that will shape future economic, military and geopolitical power. Europe, meanwhile, is falling behind. Europe therefore has much to gain by keeping cordial, cooperative and mutually beneficial relations with China.

Europe needs China as a partner for new investments, not just as an opponent.

The present geopolitical situation is undergoing change, and it is no longer solely the military capabilities that determine absolute power but........

© New Eastern Outlook