The 25th China-EU Summit, opening Thursday in Beijing, represents a pivotal moment for global stability as the world grapples with "accelerating changes unseen in a century" and disruptive unilateralism. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun emphasized that as two major forces advancing multipolarity, China and the EU bear shared responsibility to counter bullying practices undermining international order. The summit coincides with the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic ties and the 80th UN founding anniversary, offering a historic platform to recalibrate relations.
Bilateral cooperation has delivered transformative results: trade volume surged from $2.4 billion to $785.8 billion, while investment stock grew from near zero to $260 billion. This economic symbiosis has improved livelihoods for nearly 2 billion people and established a "golden standard" for globalization-era partnerships. Guo highlighted China-EU collaboration on climate action and cultural exchange as evidence of their complementary civilizational strengths.
Despite these achievements, Guo noted certain EU actors have "unnecessarily hampered relations" by framing ties through a reductive "partner-competitor-rival" lens, imposing unjustified anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese EVs and sanctioning Chinese firms under the EU’s 18th Russia sanctions package without UN authorization. China firmly opposes these measures, urging the EU to reject external pressures (notably from the U.S.) that distort strategic autonomy.
Experts identify two breakthrough areas for collaboration, the first being the "Green Economy" which would involve merging EU carbon-capture technologies with China’s renewable energy prowess and digitalization which includes leveraging China’s 5G and e-commerce leadership to boost EU digital infrastructure. These align with China’s vision for "win-win cooperation" in next-generation industries.
China urges the EU to adopt a "comprehensive, dialectical, and forward-looking perspective," drawing wisdom from 50 years of shared history. Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the summit must send a "positive, constructive signal" by reaffirming multilateralism against unilateral coercion, establishing fair conflict-resolution mechanisms and launching joint initiatives in AI governance and supply chain stability. As Professor Cui Hongjian noted, "Stabilizing relations and managing differences hold greater long-term value than immediate deliverables".