China-EU trade: commercial ties ‘hard to break’ despite disagreement over Ukraine war
- China surpassed the United States to become the European Union’s largest trading partner in 2020-21 thanks to strong demand during the pandemic
- Despite EU frustrations with Beijing over its stance on the Ukraine war, trade ties will be hard to break, regardless of attempts by European policymakers to diversify
Trade between China and the European Union (EU) could see some minor strains over Beijing’s stance on the Ukraine war, but decoupling is unlikely given the entrenched commercial relationship and impracticality of diversifying supply chains, experts say.
China surpassed the United States to become the EU’s largest trading partner in 2020-21 thanks to strong demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
The EU trade in goods with China was worth €587.9 billion (US$637.2 billion) in 2020 and €695.5 billion in 2021, according to Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistics database.
The EU trade in goods with the US was valued at €556.2 billion in 2020 and €631.4 billion in 2021.
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Despite booming trade, the EU-China relationship has become strained over the past two years, with a long-negotiated investment deal between the two suspended in May last year.