The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission on 22 June 2016 adopted a Joint Communication, entitled “Elements for a new EU strategy on China”, which maps out the European Union’s relationship with China for the next five years.

Federica Mogherini, the High Representative/Vice-President, said: “The European Union and China already cooperate on so much: we work together on the global and political issues of our times, such as Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, migration and climate change. But we can and must do more to connect the European Union and China. Our citizens, industries, and organisations can all benefit from a closer, improved, and better-defined EU-China relationship based on shared responsibility. The Joint Communication that we have adopted today will, I am sure, enable our relationship to fulfil its clear potential.”

The Joint Communication identifies major opportunities for the EU’s relationship with China, in particular with the aim of creating jobs and growth in Europe as well as vigorously promoting a greater opening up of the Chinese market to European business, thus contributing to the first priority of President Juncker’s Commission.

Such opportunities include concluding an ambitious and comprehensive agreement on investment, a Chinese contribution to the Investment Plan for Europe, joint research and innovation activities, as well as connecting the Eurasian continent via a physical and digital network through which trade, investment and people-to-people contact can flow.

Looking further ahead, broader ambitions such as a deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement can be considered once an ambitious investment agreement between the two sides has been concluded and reforms that level the playing field for domestic and foreign companies have been implemented. In this regard, China must make significant, time-bound and verifiable cuts in industrial over-capacity, notably in the steel sector, to prevent negative consequences from unfair competition. Further strengthening the effectiveness of the EU’s Trade Defence Instruments, notably through the swift adoption of the Commission’s Trade Defence Instruments modernisation proposal of April 2013, is key. The EU will continue to support China’s economic and social reform programme through its many dialogues with China so that the country can reap the full benefits of market-led reform, including by eliminating state-induced economic distortions and reforming state-owned enterprises.

The Joint Communication also highlights opportunities for closer cooperation and partnership between the EU and China in the fields of foreign and security policy. Building on the positive experience of the Iran nuclear talks, the European Union and China should work more closely together in order to resolve international conflicts and foreign policy priorities both bilaterally and in multilateral contexts such as the UN system and in the G20. Issues of a global nature like migration, international development assistance, the environment and fighting climate change can only be resolved through a global response, and for this reason a collaborative EU-China relationship is crucial.

The EU’s engagement with China will be principled, practical and pragmatic, staying true to its interests and values, in particular adherence to international rules and norms, and respect for human rights. The EU should continue to work cohesively and effectively as a coherent block to achieve ambitious objectives on behalf of European citizens.

The Joint Communication will now be presented to the Council and to the European Parliament.

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Elements for a new EU strategy on China

Executive summary

This Joint Communication proposes elements for a new EU strategy on China. It is intended to constitute the China dimension of implementing the Juncker Commission’s political guidelines, contributing to the jobs, growth and investment agenda and to reinforcing the EU as a global actor. It dovetails with the European Commission’s “Trade for All” Strategy and takes into account the views of the European Parliament in its December 2015 report on the EU’s relations with China, aiming to set out a policy framework for EU engagement with China for the next five years.

The EU and China are two of the three largest economies and traders in the world. Both have changed considerably since the Commission’s previous Communication on China a decade ago. The rise of China has happened with unprecedented scale and speed. Not only is China different internally than it was before the current leadership took over in 2013, but China’s increased weight and a renewed emphasis on “going global” mean that it is seeking a bigger role and exerting greater influence on an evolving system of global governance.

The EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation fulfils an important role as the highest-level joint document guiding the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. But the EU needs its own strategy, one which puts its own interests at the forefront in the new relationship; which promotes universal values; which recognises the need for and helps to define an increased role for China in the international system; and is based on a positive agenda of partnership coupled with the constructive management of differences.

This Communication proposes that the EU should:

• Seize new openings to strengthen its relations with China.

• Engage China in its reform process in practical ways which result in mutual benefits for our relations in economic, trade and investment, social, environmental and other areas.

• Promote reciprocity, a level playing field and fair competition across all areas of cooperation.

• Push for the timely completion of negotiations on a Comprehensive Agreement on Investment and an ambitious approach to opening up new market opportunities.

• Drive forward infrastructure, trading, digital and people-to-people connectivity between Europe and China based on an open rules-based platform with benefits for all the countries along the proposed routes.

• Promote global public goods, sustainable development and international security in line with our respective UN and G20 responsibilities.

• Promote respect for the rule of law and human rights within China and internationally.

• Maximise EU cohesion and effectiveness in its dealings with China.