The growing pains of China-EU relations don't alter inherent benefits of partnership: China Daily editorial

Within the span of just over a month, a succession of European leaders and senior officials have visited China and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has visited several European countries. The flurry of visits sends a strong signal that despite the differences between the two sides, maintaining stable and constructive relations serves the interests of both China and Europe.

The visits by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Swiss Confederation President Guy Parmelin, Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir and Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic adviser to the French president, are followed by Austrian Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker's visit from Monday to Saturday.

Yet while many individual European economies advocate engagement and seek cooperative opportunities with China, the European Union's executive and legislative bodies continue to explore restrictive trade measures that risk undermining the very economic relationships these European countries seek to preserve.

History and present realities have repeatedly demonstrated that cooperation outweighs competition and common ground outweighs differences in China-EU economic relations. The question is whether the EU can work with China to manage differences without sacrificing their much larger common interests.

China has consistently viewed the EU as a partner, approaching the relationship with sincerity and openness. The economic rationale for partnership is compelling. Europe's strengths in advanced manufacturing, technology and high-quality products complement China's enormous market, comprehensive industrial system and growing innovation capabilities. Their differences in economic structures create opportunities for mutually beneficial development. Treating this complementarity as a competitive "threat" risks turning economic interdependence into unnecessary confrontation.

During his trip to Anhui province, Steinmeier witnessed China's advances in innovation and industrial development. Such experiences should encourage Germany to take a more rational view of China's technological advancements. Artificial intelligence, green development, digital economy and advanced manufacturing offer substantial potential for greater cooperation.

Although Switzerland is not an EU member, its decision to deepen economic ties with China is instructive to the EU. Parmelin's visit provided a demonstration of the dividends of openness. China and Switzerland signed a protocol upgrading their free trade agreement, aiming to extend zero-tariff coverage to goods representing more than 99 percent of their trade while improving market access and providing businesses with a more predictable institutional framework.

China's relations with Iceland and France also offer considerable potential for greater cooperation. The same message emerged from the Oct 27 meeting between Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee. Lange recognized China as a vital economic and trade partner, welcomed Chinese investment and supported continued consultations to manage differences.

China is not the cause of the EU's problems. Protectionism will not resolve Europe's structural economic challenges or strengthen its industries by limiting access to a major market and disrupting supply chains. Ultimately, it is European businesses and consumers who will bear the costs of such an approach.

The difficulties in China-EU relations are growing pains, not reasons to abandon the partnership. Mutual success requires respect, accommodation and seeking common ground while reserving differences. With equal dialogue and political goodwill, disputes can be managed without derailing the broader economic relationship.

China wants stable, sound and mutually beneficial relations with Europe. The inconsistency is in the EU's approach: it calls China an indispensable economic partner while simultaneously imposing restrictive trade instruments. The EU cannot pursue the benefits of the Chinese market with one hand while erecting barriers for China with the other.

At a time of mounting global uncertainty, China and Europe share a responsibility to uphold multilateralism, advance an equal and orderly multipolar world, and promote inclusive and universally beneficial economic globalization. The recent diplomatic exchanges show that the political space for a constructive relationship remains open. What is needed is the determination to turn goodwill into consistent action.