By Shannon Tiezzi
In the EU, China finds an economic partner; in Russia, a strategic ally. How does Beijing balance the two?
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is in Europe this week on a three-country tour that will take him to Germany, Russia, and Italy. The visit to Europe by China’s top economic leader gives insight into China’s balancing act when it comes to the European continent – how to maintain and expand economic relations with powerhouses like Germany while deepening political ties to Russia. Tensions between the EU and Russia have made this two-pronged diplomacy more difficult, but each side offers something China cannot do without.
When it comes to the EU, China is most interested in economic opportunities. The travel schedule of Li himself attests to this. As premier, Li is nominally responsible for overseeing China’s economy (although Xi Jinping has taken a more hands-on approach to help push through difficult economic reforms). Li’s foreign travels, then, represent a sort of economic roadmap (or even wish-list) for China. It’s no coincidence that Li’s first tour abroad took him to Germany and Switzerland. He’s been back to Europe several times since, stopping in Romania and Eastern Europe in November 2013 and visiting the U.K. in June 2014. Now Li has once again scheduled EU member states for a trip abroad, further reinforcing the emphasis Beijing places on trade with European partners.
This was especially apparent during Li’s time in Germany. A Foreign Ministry briefing held before Li’s departure emphasized Germany’s outsized role in China’s European trade. Trade with Germany alone accounts for close to 30 percent of China’s total trade with the EU member states; the total value of China-Germany bilateral trade in 2013 was $160 billion. As such, Germany provides something of an economic window into the greater EU for China.
Read the full story at The Diplomat