2025 marks a half-century of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union – and the future is all about the transition to a digital, eco-friendly new world. CGTN's William Denselow reports from Brussels.
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00:00100,000 trips and counting. Since 2011, this freight train has carried more than 400 billion
00:08dollars worth of goods from China to the European market. For half a century, trade has been
00:15a major driver of ties between China and the EU. And today, it continues to pick up steam.
00:22The 50 years have been really, really important for China and the EU. What we can say from
00:28a business perspective, we've seen that the importance of the euro has been constantly
00:33growing over the past decades, and in particular in recent years. Back in 1980, Germany imported
00:411.9 billion dollars worth of goods from China. Over the next 20 years, that grew exponentially.
00:49By 2023, bilateral trade between China and the whole of the European Union exceeded 770
00:56billion dollars. But relations have soured over recent months, especially after the EU's
01:02decision to impose additional duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Commission officials here
01:09say the relationship isn't black and white, and a focus should be on de-risking, not decoupling
01:15from China. Both Chinese and EU diplomats recently participated in a forum here in Brussels
01:25to mark the 50 years of diplomatic ties, a chance to take stock and discuss challenges
01:31including the transition to green and digital economies, sometimes called the dual transition.
01:37China and Europe are both facing the dual transition. That actually is also the direction
01:43the world. So we have to continue on the cooperative spirit to jump out of the
01:54so much focus on geopolitical demands to start the cooperating. Trade tensions persist.
02:03Some panellists at this event urged both sides to engage in constructive competition.
02:09Despite the fallout over EV duties, there's a hope that climate policy
02:13can be a source of cooperation. One of those areas is green management. We know that connectivity,
02:20green connectivity in China is one of the areas where it's a bit lacking and where cooperation
02:25would be more needed. Carbon pricing is of course one of the areas which have been
02:30quite fruitful over the past years. While current relations face challenges,
02:36both sides have made strong commitments to a clean energy transition. After 50 years of
02:41cooperation, leaders say that green is the colour of future EU collaboration.