Written by Marcin Grajewski,

China - EU joint maps
© Weissblick / Fotolia

The European Union and China made limited progress towards improving bilateral ties at their summit in early June, and they remain at odds over a number of controversial trade issues. However, analysts say the EU and China look poised to strengthen cooperation on fighting climate change, especially after the new US President, Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris deal on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. China is also eager to push ahead with its Belt and Road Initiative – a strategic plan to boost transport, trade, connectivity and cooperation between China and Europe.

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from major international think tanks on relations between China and the EU, as well as on other issues related to the country. More studies on the topic can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are thinking’.

EU-China relations

Other than climate change, can anything else unite Europe and China against Trump?
Bruegel, June 2017

China-EU leadership in globalisation: Ambition and capacity
Centre for European Policy Studies, May 2017

EU-China co-operation in global governance: Going beyond the conceptual gap
Egmont, May 2017

China’s inroads into Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe: Implications for Germany and the EU
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, May 2017

China cannot finance the Belt and Road alone
Bruegel, May 2017

What are China’s global economic intentions?
Bruegel, April 2017

EU-China leadership in trade policy: Feasible? Desirable?
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2017

The EU-China energy cooperation: An institutional analysis
European Institute for Asian Studies, February 2017

China as an investment power in Europe
College of Europe, December 2016

Climate policy in China, the European Union and the United States: main drivers and prospects for the future
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, Bruegel, December 2016

Europe, China and Africa: New thinking for a secure century
Friends of Europe, November 2016

Emissions trading and climate diplomacy between Europe and China
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, November 2016

What consequences would a post-Brexit China-UK trade deal have for the EU?
Bruegel, October 2016

Granting market economy status to China in the EU: An economic impact assessment
Bruegel, September 2016

China and Brexit: What’s in it for us?
European Council on Foreign Relations, September 2016

EU-China relations: New directions, new priorities
Friends of Europe, July 2016

Economic diplomacy in EU–China relations: Why Europe needs its own ‘OBOR’
Clingendael, June 2016

The European Union and the China-led transformation of global economic governance
Egmont, June 2016

China’s market economy status and the European interest
European Council on Foreign Relations, June 2016

Belt and Road Initiative

Beijing’s silk road goes digital
Council on Foreign Relations, June 2017

Europe’s mixed views on China’s One Belt, One Road initiative
Brookings Institution, May 2017

The EU in the AIIB: Taming China’s influence from within
Egmont, May 2017

China’s soft power offensive, one belt one road, and the limitations of Beijing’s soft power
Council on Foreign Relations, May 2017

The EU, the Eurasian Economic Union and One Belt, One Road: Can they work together?
Centre for European Reform, March 2017

The Silk Road Economic Belt: Considering security implications and EU–China cooperation prospects
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, February 2017

Europe and China’s new Silk Roads
Clingendael, January 2017

The ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and the London market: The next steps in renminbi internationalization. Part 3: framework for policy discussion
Chatham House, January 2017

The ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and the London market: The next steps in renminbi internationalization. Part 1: the view from Beijing
Chatham House, January 2017

The ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and the London market: The next steps in renminbi internationalization. Part 2: the view from London
Chatham House, January 2017

Europe and China’s new silk roads
European Think-tank Network on China, December 2016

The geopolitical relevance of Piraeus and China’s New Silk Road
Clingendael, December 2016

China’s belt and road: Destination Europe
Carnegie Europe, November 2016

China’s road: Into Eastern Europe
European Union Institute for Security Studies, February 2017

China’s Belt and Road initiative: Can Europe expect trade gains?
Bruegel, September 2016

One belt, one road: The Chinese dream and its impact on Europe
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, May 2016

The silk road, XXI century: One belt, one road
Institute of International and European Affairs, May 2016

Xi Jinping’s long road to China’s OBOR initiative and how Europe should respond
European Centre for International Political Economy, May 2016

Other studies

US-China cooperation in a changing global economy
Peterson Institute for International Economics, June 2017

A few words on China’s ‘new’ exchange rate regime
Council on Foreign Relations, May 2017

China’s big bet on soft power
Council on Foreign Relations, May 2017

Transatlantic divergences in globalisation and the China factor
Centre for European Policy Studies, May 2017

China’s rising leverage is a growing risk
Bruegel, May 2017

China’s confusing trade and current account numbers
Council on Foreign Relations, April 2017

Is China’s innovation strategy a threat?
Bruegel, April 2017

Global competition and the rise of China
Peterson Institute for International Economics, February 2017

China and Russia: An Eastern partnership in the making?
European Union Institute for Security Studies, February 2017

China 4.0. Reaktionen in Partei und Gesellschaft auf die digitale Transformation
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, January 2017

Chinas Kommunistische Partei vor Xi Jinpings zweiter Amtsperiode als Vorsitzender Im Spannungsfeld individueller Machtkonsolidierung und kollektiver Parteitraditionen
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, January 2017

China’s foreign policy in Northeast Asia: Implications for the Korean peninsula
Istituto Affari Internazionali, January 2017

Will engaging China promote good governance?
Brookings Institution, January 2017

China’s G20 Year and the new paradigm: Emphasis on global governance pointing the way to 2017 and beyond
Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, January 2017

China’s overseas investment in critical infrastructure: Nuclear power and telecommunications
Danish Institute of International Studies, December 2016

Should the United States recognize China as a market economy?
Peterson Institute for International Economics, December 2016

China’s path to high-tech leadership
Mercator Institute for China Studies, December 2016

China’s regional forum diplomacy
European Union Institute for Security Studies, November 2016

China’s military deployments in the Gulf of Aden: Anti-piracy and beyond
Institut français des relations internationales, November 2016

China’s global rise: Can the EU and US pursue a coordinated strategy?
Brookings Institution, October 2016

Chinese public sees more powerful role in world, names US as top threat. Domestic challenges persist: corruption, consumer safety, pollution
Pew Research Center, October 2016

Financial regulation: The G20’s missing Chinese dream
Bruegel, October 2016

‘Silk globalisation’: China’s vision of international order
Centre for Eastern Studies, October 2016

China’s growth challenges
Institut für Weltwirtschaft Kiel, September 2016

China’s relations with sub-Saharan Africa
Istituto Affari Internazionali, September 2016

China’s new economic frontier: Overcoming obstacles to continued growth
Peterson Institute for International Economics, August 2016

A hundred think tanks bloom in China
European Council on Foreign Relations, August 2016

China’s advance in Latin America: Geostrategic implications for Europe, the US, and the region itself
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, August 2016

China’s market economy status: A political issue
Institute of International and European Affairs, August 2016

The China-Russia trade relationship and its impact on Europe
Bruegel, July 2016

China in the Eastern Mediterranean
Clingendael, July 2016

Engaging China at a time of transition: Capitalising on a new era of Chinese Global investment and Foreign Policy Initiatives
European Political Strategy Centre, July 2016

China dream: Still coming true?
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, July 2016

China in the Middle East: Not just about oil
European Union Institute for Security Studies, July 2016

Time’s up: China’s coming battle for market economy status
European Council on Foreign Relations, June 2016