ICES Roundtable | Innovative Thinking in Europe-China Relations and Cooperation

Hosted by the Institute for China-Europe Studies (ICES)

Source: ICES

Date: May 07, 2026

On Thursday 07 May 2026, ICES was happy to host a closed-door roundtable on Innovative Thinking in Europe-China Relations and Cooperation. This brainstorming discussion featured scholars from Chinese and European think tanks and was the occasion to try and find innovative ways to manage disputes between Europe and China, improve communication and enhance cooperation in service of their mutual interests.

The speakers identified several points of frictions between Europe and China. This included counter-productive narratives, a gap between International Relations experts speaking about geopolitical and technical issues, a complicated and often discouraging visa policy for Chinese visitors in Europe which limits people-to-people exchanges, and China's strengthening of its economic security through export controls and supply chain regulations.

It was argued that the forthcoming economic security measures announced by China could be far more impactful on its relations with Europe than the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) for example. Such measures might plant the seeds of larger and more far-reaching legislation that could create broader regulatory implications for European companies. This could in turn lead to a stronger reaction on the EU's side, which would be tempted to close down its market to protect its industries and supply chains.

To avoid such a scenario, it was suggested to increase communication between Brussels and Beijing specifically on economic security to find some common ground and to tailor policies of economic security to one another's markets. This could include specific licencing agreements, facilitating Chinese investments and technology transfer and looking at specific frameworks to build consensus. Europe could signal more to China its strategic partnership's willingness, notably by displaying the efforts already made to lower restrictions in the IAA. Such cooperation could in turn cascade to further cooperation in other sectors, including more pragmatic narratives employed by Brussels when it comes to China.

Speakers also discussed the EU's structural weaknesses in decision-making and slow integration, as well as Europe's deep security and technological dependence on the US. Upcoming visits by Trump and Putin to Beijing were also highlighted as factors that will shape future EU-China relations.

Please note that views expressed by the speakers do not reflect the policies or positions of ICES.