Join Jing Men as she examines how institutional cooperation and strategic rivalry now coexist in EU–China relations
The year 2025 marked fifty years of diplomatic relations between the European Union and China, a period during which economic interdependence and sectoral cooperation created a dense, institutionalised relationship. The stabilising role traditionally played by these mechanisms, however, is increasingly in question.
As the EU reinforces its framing of China as a systemic rival, through economic security measures, technological controls, and a more explicit articulation of its strategic concerns, Beijing has adjusted its engagement with the EU in a more guarded and risk-conscious manner. When both sides come to view the other primarily through a lens of rivalry, institutional dialogue loses much of its buffering capacity and can no longer mitigate the erosion of political trust.
This lecture examines how continuity in trade, climate cooperation, and functional interdependence now coexists with a widening divergence driven by values, political principles, and security calculations. It concludes by assessing whether a hybrid, tension-managed order can remain sustainable as institutional resilience weakens.
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