Amid transatlantic tension, the EU has reason to reshape its relationship with China

Just as China should make use of its investment deal with the EU to boost internal reforms, the EU could also see the agreement as an opportunity to deepen its relationship with China, at a time when European unity and economic stability are under stress

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China and the EU reached in-principle agreement on an investment deal at a video conference call on December 30, attended by (from top left, clockwise) Chinese President Xi Jinping, European Council president Charles Michel, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: Reuters

Ziang Liu is a researcher at King’s College London and an associate fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Published: 1:30am, 12 Jan 2021Updated: 9:34am, 12 Jan 2021

The European Union stands at a key moment in history – a post-Brexit, post-Trumpism, and post-Covid-19 era is coming. If the EU-China investment agreement is an opportunity for China to tackle the resistance to its internal reforms with the help of external competition, it can also be an opportunity for the EU at this challenging time. Here’s why.

First, EU unity has come under growing pressure. In recent years, the stability of the EU economy has been challenged by the financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis and the migrant crisis.

These issues have nourished a growing sentiment of Euroscepticism. Research by a team led by Matthijs Rooduijn, a political sociologist at the University of Amsterdam, has found that the number of people who voted for Eurosceptic parties has increased substantially in the past 20 years, from around 15 per cent at the beginning of the century to 33.32 per cent in 2019.