China and the EU are holding the 9th high-level economic and trade dialogue on July 19 via video conference between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and European Commission Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. his mechanism on economic and trade talks was established in 2008, and the last dialogue was held two years ago. At their April 1 summit, Chinese and EU leaders agreed to continue high-level bilateral talks in green and economic areas. Liu and Dombrovskis are expected to cover a wide range of topics, including global economic challenges such as food security and energy prices, supply chain bottlenecks, bilateral trade and investment issues, and financial services. They are holding the talks against the backdrop of downward pressure on both economies.
Trade between China and the EU has remained resilient. According to Eurostat, the EU exported €92.6 billion of goods to China in the first five months of this year, a 0.1% increase from €92.5 billion in the same period last year; and imported goods from China totaled €247.9 billion, a 41.8% increase from the same period last year. Between January and May, China was the bloc's largest goods trading partner, followed by the United States. The EU's trade with China was €2.5 billion higher than its trade with the U.S.
The EU is recognizing that there is a lack of Chinese research in Europe, and has therefore launched the “Dealing with a Resurgent China” project, a €4 million Horizon Europe initiative that brings together nine universities and think tanks from seven EU member states to advance Chinese research and serve as a resource for EU policy-making. The three-year project is anticipated to begin in November 2022 he project will be coordinated by Denmark’s Copenhagen Business School with the participation of eight institutions, including France’s Asia Center, the Brussels-based Bruegel, Germany’s MERICS and Ruhr-University Bochum, SWPS Universytet Humanistycznospoleczny in Poland, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and Italy’s Universita del Piomonte Orientale. The project will cover key areas including society and culture, politics, economy and foreign policy. The project will produce policy briefs, podcasts and seminars on China, among other things.
