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On December 12, 2013 the KAS/ Peking hosted a seminar on China’s role in the world with focus on European-Chinese relations in Hong Kong.

How is the current relationship between China and Europe? Where does China see itself in the international order? What has changed since March 2013 when China welcomed its new leaders? During the seminar, Chinese experts, representatives from the German General Consulate and professors teaching in Hong Kong, discussed the current position of China’s foreign policy, new tendencies, and the gap between the internal and external perception of China. During the first months after the March inauguration, the new Chinese government has mainly focused on the consolidation of power internally. A new trend did not reveal until recently. China presents itself as a confident player on the international stage. Its ideologically-led foreign policy was followed by a business-oriented approach, which, based on the current trend, is expected to develop into a more balanced foreign policy. Senior officials from Chinese think tanks stated that commerce and security would be the core of the balanced approach.

China and the EU first established diplomatic relations in 1975, and it has seen continuous consolidation ever since. In November this year, the 16th EU-China Summit was held in Beijing. The number of dialogue programmes is increasing steadily. China perceives the EU as a unity, especially when it comes to trade relations. Chinese experts highly appreciated the balanced and peace-focused foreign policy of Europe, as China is also striving for permanent peace in Asia, as the Chinese experts emphasised.