Trzydzieści lat niewygodnego partnerstwa − ewolucja stosunków UE–Chiny

Abstract

The last 30 years of the European Union’s relations with China have been complex. In the 1990s, Brussels was building a partnership with China by publishing a number of political strategies. The year 2001, i.e. China’s accession to the WTO, brought about a dynamic development of not only political but also economic contacts, which became the most important area of bilateral relations. A similar trend was introduced by the Belt and Road Initiative announced by Xi Jinping in 2013, strengthening EU-Chinese ties at the supranational, national and subnational levels. Also the United States, as a world superpower, is an important point of reference for EU relations with China, which was emphasized by the presidency of Donald Trump. The authorities in Brussels then sharpened their rhetoric towards the Asian partner. Currently, the difficult path of mutual relations is bumpy, although from an economic point of view it is more like a highway: it is wide, it is difficult to change it into another road without feeling loss, and it is very difficult to turn back from it.