ICES-Global Times Roundtable: EU-China Mutual Perceptions’ report and panel discussion

Hosted by ICES and Global Times

Source: ICES

Date: January 27, 2026
Time: 16:30 -17:30 CET

On Tuesday 27 January, ICES and Global Times were pleased to host a closed-door round table discussion featuring high ranking guests among which: Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Belgium, Minister Counsellor of Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the EU, Global Times Institute’s representatives, experts of EU-China relations from leading local think- tanks, former European diplomats, representatives of Chinese institutions and media organisations based in Europe.

Following a presentation by the Global Times Institute on their China-EU Mutual Perceptions Report, participants discussed the findings and enquired about the methodology used, as well as its implications. European researchers welcomed such an initiative to better understand mutual perceptions and exchanged with the Global Times Institute’s team on the shape future research in that topic could take. The format of the event encouraged a frank and open exchange on the cultural and political obstacles that were still hampering EU-China relations, and the occasional misalignment between policy discourse and public perceptions.

Avenues of future cooperation between the EU and China were explored, as the current destabilisation of the international world order and the shifting role of the USA in the traditional geopolitical balance created a strong impetus to reevaluate the relationship between the two entities. Academics, diplomats as well as business’ representatives made the case that existing Europe-China cooperation was often more complex and region/sector-specific than usually envisioned, whereas recent legislative and policy frameworks increasingly frame the relationship in polarised terms. On certain topics such as infrastructure development, multilateralism, climate change and commerce, both the EU and China have much to gain to keep on collaborating and deepening their partnerships, ensuring synergies on parallel and complementary initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative or the Global Gateway.

We extend our sincere thanks to the speakers for their insightful contributions and the resulting discussion.