Made in China, Powered by Europe – Mapping the EU’s strategic leverage over the People’s Republic of China

This event will be livestreamed here and on YouTube.

An increasingly emboldened China has become a master at utilising strategic leverage to achieve policy aims and ideological goals. This ranges from making formal dialogues conditional, using import bans as tools to exert pressure and utilising FDIs for targeted political purposes.

The narrative put forward by the PRC’s government is designed to convey the view that Chinas lead in cutting-edge technology is insurmountable and that its dependencies on the EU and its foreign partners are minimal at best.

In reality, the EU has strategic leverage in key niche sectors which are integral to the future of Chinese industry, including semiconductor chips, civil aviation, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, as well as robotics. However, these dependencies weaken every month and will likely be non-existent within the next decade.

This event will launch the Martens Centres latest research paper dedicated to mapping the EUs influence and potential sway over China given its dependencies in these vital economic sectors. The discussion will also focus on the PRCs unfair competition practices, ongoing trade tensions between the two economic blocs and how the EU can best bolster its economic security toolkit.