EU-China relations in times of covid-19

Covid-19 has upended life as we know it. While affecting business and politics within Europe, it also brings about a new set of questions with regard to our relationship with China. In this spiral of current events and increasing international mistrust, the Chinese leadership is trying very hard to shift the international narrative in its favour. The broader question of the future of EU-China relations predates the coronavirus crisis and has not disappeared, but becomes more urgent and existing fault lines become even more pronounced.

We discussed all these issues in a Virtual Pan-European Roundtable organized by ECFR Rome office with Janka Oertel, Director of ECFR Asia program with the participation of Mauro Petriccione, Director-General DG Climate Action and ECFR Council Member; Michele Geraci, Economist and former Economy Undersecretary and Filippo Fasulo, Director of the Italy-China research centre. The discussion was moderated by Alessandro Speciale, Head of Bloomber Rome Bureau.