Europe needs a new strategy to deal with China, says Brussels-based think tank
- Infrastructure investment could address ‘risks’ of asymmetrical independence
- Lack of common priorities makes individual policies ‘vulnerable and insufficient’
A European think tank has called for a new strategy to deal with China to counter increasing Chinese investment in the European continent.
The Egmont Royal Institute for International Relations, an independent think tank based in Brussels, released a report on Tuesday, calling for member states to “invest in substance” through means such as infrastructure development.
Report author Tobias Gehrke, a research fellow at the institute, said years of soaring Chinese investment in Europe had increasingly been met with unease by European Union leaders.
Beijing’s influence on the activities of its global economic actors had also led to economic security concerns about critical infrastructure and national security on the continent, the report said.
Beijing has been keen to boost its presence in the EU by developing greater trade and investment links with the region through measures such as China’s 16+1 initiative, launched in 2012, which brings together China and 16 central and eastern European countries, including 11 EU member states.