Despite cold winds blowing from Brussels, businesses in the European Union are displaying a growing appetite for forging cooperation with China. This positive momentum was on display at the 19th Europe-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair in Chengdu, Sichuan province, last week, where hundreds of participating Chinese and EU companies from various fields met at matchmaking tables, seeking potential partners and investors.
Instead of churning out more restrictive measures, Brussels should encourage the growing enthusiasm among many EU businesses for greater cooperation with their Chinese partners. The Chengdu fair should serve as a barometer to gauge this enthusiasm. Reportedly, EU companies attending the fair expressed a clear intent to deepen cooperation with their Chinese counterparts, viewing the uncertainty stemming from the United States' trade policies as more disruptive than the trade friction with China.
This sentiment underscores a broader strategic recalibration in Europe, where escalating tariffs and trade barriers from the US are prompting enterprises to explore alternative markets, with China emerging as a key partner.
The major challenge both European and Chinese companies face is "the instability coming from America", as Nuno Orfao from the Portuguese consulting company Stream told the media. "America is putting up a wall, which is affecting not only the relations that Europe has with them," Orfao said. In the same vein, Jorge Marques, CEO of Spain-headquartered digital marketplace Space Mall, was quoted as saying that "The market is in Asia. We must be ready to open deals and make really good trade with Asia — in general, with China", while warning that EU policies targeting China will ultimately benefit US companies such as Amazon.
China has repeatedly urged the EU to resolve trade frictions through dialogue and negotiations. In his meeting with Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, last week, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao pointed out that two rounds of talks under the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism this year had yielded substantial results, demonstrating both sides' ability to address differences through dialogue.
China is not the source of the EU's problems, but a partner in finding solutions, Wang said, while emphasizing that both China and the EU are important economic and trade partners and key supporters of the multilateral trading system. All this highlights China's readiness to collaborate with the EU to stabilize trade and investment ties, a sentiment echoed by EU business leaders at the Chengdu fair.
The wish for greater cooperation is further amplified by the success of Chinese photovoltaic and energy storage products at the 140th Canton Fair, held in three phases in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, from Oct 15 to Wednesday.
With fossil fuel prices soaring as a result of the US' military adventurism in the Middle East, many foreign buyers are increasingly drawn to China's renewable energy solutions, which offer a viable alternative to traditional energy sources. Europe, hard hit by the energy crisis, has strong demand for new energy equipment. Yet Chinese new energy facilities and vehicles are among the main targets of EU restrictive measures.
The Chengdu and Canton fairs reveal the need to navigate the complexities of global trade through collaboration.
However, the path to deeper cooperation is not without challenges. The EU's recent push to impose new restrictions — even after China-EU trade and investment consultations produced hard-won outcomes — reflects a dangerous miscalculation of some in Brussels that pressure will work. Should the EU fail to deliver on its part of the agreed outcomes and instead open a new front, the China-EU trade talks could be undone. If the EU's misjudgment merely brings the talks back to the starting line, it is hard to portray it as a victory for either side.
