China: the Asian giant to whom the European Union has a fresh look

The image of China as the cheap labor factory with which the country was perceived by the European Union had disappeared. On the continent, the Asian giant is already a "rival" against whom relevant measures must be taken.

According to a newspaper article The countryThis is not the question of the Brexit or the European Parliament that dominates these days in Brussels, but the question of China. The Union discovered – much later than the United States – that its future depends on its adaptation to the imposing presence of the Asian giant.

According to the media, in an official document published last Wednesday, the European Commission described China as a "systemic rival" and reoriented its strategy towards this nation, accused of unfair competitionof encourage unsustainable debt in neighboring countries of the European Union – to control their badets and strategic sectors.

There is also the question of security. The European Union does not welcome the arms race undertaken by China.

A factory in China (Photo by STR / AFP / China OUT)

If that was not enough, the Union has something else to fear: the technological issue. If Europe was a leader in the first generation of mobile telephony, it can now not develop 5G without the help of Huawei, indicated by its ties with the Chinese government.

And his Investment in the development of new technologies does not compare either. Angela Merkel announced an investment of 3,000 million euros in artificial intelligence until 2025 and China 130,000 million until 2030.

Even in the reduction of CO2 emissions, the EU initiative needs the support of China, because their collaboration accounts for 30%, double that of the United States.

The EU also fears dependence on Chinese capital in some countries where the Asian nation has won influence through investments and loans via the One Belt program, One Road (the new Silk Road).

There is also a difference between the EU and China. Between 2000 and 2018, China invested 181 billion euros in the Union, a figure comparable to that of European nations based in China. Europe is investing in production, China is looking for strategic badets with high technological value.

The European Union has already taken action. It will be launched a foreign investment control mechanism next April, the same month as the EU-China summit.

For Christina Müller-Markus, Sinologist at the National Academy of Science and Technology (Acatech) of Germany, The goal of China is clear: "to become a superpower again".