EU-China Summit – building new connections

Oversigt 23-06-2015

The EU-China Summit on 29 June 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations. It provides an opportunity not only to take stock of progress achieved on the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, such as in the ongoing negotiations of a bilateral investment agreement, but also to identify new fields of cooperation. New dialogue mechanisms could be launched in areas such as 'legal affairs', including the rule of law, an area in which some Member States have already engaged in bilateral dialogue with China. Of late, China's 'rule by law' concept has been high on the political agenda of the Chinese leadership. In the field of connectivity, potential synergies could be explored between China's pan-continental 'One Belt, One Road' initiative and the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), also known as the 'Juncker plan'.