What Drives the EU’s Contemporary Strategic Engagement with China?

Abstract

This article discusses the main determinants of the European Union’s strategic engagement with China with reference to three competing analytical explanations: institutional, socio-cultural, and agency and stakeholder. The article examines the utility of each explanation, and outlines complementary variables amongst them, with the aid of evidence from long-standing points of interaction between the EU and China. These include, the EU’s arms embargo with China, EU-China competition in Africa, and the EU’s position on designating market economy status to China. The findings can reduce the misunderstandings and uncertainties embedded in the contemporary EU-China relationship.

Keywords: European Union, China, norms, arms embargo, Africa, market economy status