“What’s going on in the world?” EU-China relations in the Trump era

On the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the European Union and China, the ties between the two powers are at a critical juncture. In recent years, the EU has distanced itself from Beijing, as a result of the EU's "de-risking" policy and tensions due to the war in Ukraine. However, Trump's return to the White House and the growing estrangement of the transatlantic relationship, coupled with the manifest rivalry between Washington and Beijing, and the intensification of the trade war, opens up possibilities for greater Sino-European rapprochement in areas of mutual interest.

How have we arrived at the current political situation? What differences are there in the perception of China between European institutions and the different member states of the Union? To what extent is China an element of fracture or cohesion within the EU? Is a common European policy towards China possible? How conditioned would it be by Washington and Moscow? What is China's perspective on the role the European Union plays in the world and in China's international strategy?

In this new edition of the “What’s going on in the world?” series of conferences we will address these questions with Finbarr Bermingham, EU Correspondent at the South China Morning Post; Ceren Ergenc, Research Fellow at CEPS; and Mario Esteban, Senior Analyst at Real Instituto Elcano, in a debate moderated by Javier Borràs, Research Fellow at CIDOB.