European leaders have closed ranks in support of Kyiv. At a London summit on Mar 2, they pledged to spend more on security and assemble a coalition to defend any truce in Ukraine.
“China’s statement reflects its diplomatic finesse, capitalising on the Zelenskyy-Trump clash and US aid pauses to bolster EU (European Union) ties,” Andy Mok, a senior research fellow at the Beijing-based think tank the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), told CNA.
In the Tuesday news conference, NPC spokesperson Lou highlighted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the EU.
“(The past 50 years) demonstrate time and again that between China and Europe, there is no conflict of fundamental interests or geopolitical conflict,” Lou said.
“To develop China-Europe relations, the key lies in having confidence and composure and not be swayed by temporary events.”
Guo Shan, partner at Hutong Research, believes that Beijing’s renewed emphasis on Europe is a “strategic and timely pivot”.
She said that Beijing “has been trying to repair its relationship” with the EU for almost a year – beginning with President Xi Jinping’s visit to France last May – but progress has been limited due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine.
“The relationship (between China and the EU) mostly cooled in 2022 because of China’s refusal to distance itself from Russia,” added Guo.
Disagreements over trade have also been a factor, with the EU accusing China of overcapacity. Beijing has consistently denied the claims.
“The Zelenskyy-Trump fallout offered China another chance, and Trump’s America First Investment Policy memo, which aims to draw investment away from China into the US, also added to Beijing’s sense of urgency,” she told CNA.
China and the EU are each other’s second-largest trading partners. For instance, the EU is China’s largest source of imported consumer goods, and the top export market for China’s electromechanical products.
Trade between China and Europe grew by 1.6 per cent last year to hit 5.59 trillion yuan (US$762 billion).
Lin Han-Shen, senior adviser and China country director of The Asia Group, a US strategic advisory firm, believes Lou’s comments signal that China is positioning itself as a “legitimate – even if weaker – alternative to the US as a critical trade partner”.
“But it doesn’t have a very strong hand either. China is not likely to become a major importer and its Russia relationship continues to elicit suspicion in the European community,” said Lin.
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic is reportedly planning to visit China at the end of the month, the South China Morning Post reported on Feb 27, citing people “familiar with the plan”. He will meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, the report stated.
Trump has taken a markedly different approach to US allies compared to the Biden administration, and this shift offers China a strategic window to recalibrate and strengthen its ties with European nations, said Alejandro Reyes, a senior fellow at the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) Centre on Contemporary China and the World.
“We now have a US administration that is antagonising and beating up on its own partners and allies and applying tariffs on their products,” he said.
“From the EU perspective, it would seem that if they want to diversify away from the US, there aren’t many other options in terms of trading partners (apart from) China.”
TUSSLING OVER TARIFFS
Even as Lou extended China’s cordial hand to Europe, he concurrently took aim at the US over its tariff moves.
The NPC news conference on Tuesday coincided with extra 10 per cent blanket US tariffs on Chinese goods taking effect, resulting in cumulative 20 per cent American duties over what the White House considers Chinese inaction over drug flows.
China announced retaliatory measures soon after the levies went live – announcing 10 per cent to 15 per cent tariff hikes covering US agricultural and food products such as chicken, wheat, corn and dairy.
