Seizing opportunities for cooperation to deepen China–EU partnership – EUobserver

2026 marks the opening year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and also a new starting point for the next 50 years of China–EU relations.

At the beginning of the year, president Xi Jinping reached a series of important consensus with several leaders of European countries, charting the course and providing strategic guidance for the development of China–Europe relations.

In the face of a complex and challenging external environment, China’s economy remains on a solid footing, with multiple strengths, strong resilience, and vast potential.

The fundamentals supporting its long-term growth and its overall positive trajectory remain unchanged. The new development of China’s economy will create fresh opportunities for China–EU cooperation.

First, China’s economy stands on a firmer footing and is more resilient.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s GDP exceeded RMB 140 trillion (approximately $19.63 trillion, €17 trillion) for the first time, an increase of about $5 trillion compared with 2020, laying a solid foundation for economic development in the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

In 2026, China has set an expected economic growth target of 4.5 percent–5 percent, while striving for the better in practice. This will inject greater stability and certainty into the global economy.

Second, China’s economy features a more optimized structure and higher quality.

In recent years, China has deeply implemented the innovation-driven development strategy, achieving improvements in both the “quantity” and “quality” of economic growth.

From the perspective of demand structure, domestic demand has become the main driving force and stabilizing anchor of China’s economic growth, contributing 67.3 percent to overall growth.

From the perspective of industrial structure, industrial transformation and upgrading have accelerated, with steady progress toward higher-end, smarter, and greener development.

In 2025, the added value of high-tech manufacturing enterprises above designated size accounted for 17.1 percent of total industrial output above designated size, while energy consumption per unit of GDP continued to decline.

China’s economy is adapting to changes with innovation and enhancing quality through structural optimization, taking solid steps toward high-quality development.

Third, China’s economy is powered by stronger drivers and holds greater potential.

In 2025, China’s R&D intensity (R&D expenditure as a share of GDP) reached 2.8 percent, and its ranking in the Global Innovation Index entered the world’s top ten for the first time. Scientific and technological innovation has yielded abundant results, with new quality productive forces steadily developing.

China is at the global forefront in the research and application of artificial intelligence, biomedicine, robotics, quantum technology, etc. More than 16 million new energy vehicles have been manufactured and sold, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years. The added value of core industries in the digital economy accounted for more than 10.5 percent of GDP.

Power supply has become more sufficient and environment-friendly: total electricity consumption across society surpassed 10 trillion kilowatt-hours for the first time, installed power generation capacity accounts for one-third of the global total,and over one-third of electricity generated comes from green energy.

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China’s economy will continue to be driven by innovation, step up efforts to foster and strengthen new growth drivers, and inject sustained momentum into high-quality development.

Fourth, China’s opening up is advancing more steadily and at a higher level.

In 2025, China recorded trade growth with more than 190 countries and regions and has become a major trading partner for over 160 countries and regions. The scale of goods imports reached a new high, totaling RMB 18.5 trillion.

China’s market is opening ever-wider. The negative list for foreign investment access has been reduced to 29 items, and more than 70,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established, representing a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent.

The “circle of friends” under China’s visa-free policy has continued to expand, with unilateral visa-free policies now extended to 50 countries, including 25 EU member states.

At the end of last year, the Hainan Free Trade Port launched island-wide special customs operations, marking a major step forward in China’s pursuit of high-standard opening up.

China and the EU are each other’s second-largest trading partner. The essence of China-EU economic and trade cooperation lies in complementarity and mutual benefit. A dynamic balance is entirely within reach amid growing ties.

We are glad to see European friends stepping out of the “small attic” of protectionism and walking into the “fitness club” of the Chinese market to build their strength and competitiveness.

First, work together to make the pie of practical cooperation bigger.

As China continues to unlock new potential in domestic demand and steadily advances high-standard opening up, the dividends of its supersized market of 1.4 billion people will continue to be released.

Over the next decade or more, China’s middle-income group population is expected to exceed 800 million, providing a broad market for high-quality European products and services.

Second, work together to improve the quality and efficiency of practical cooperation.

China is fostering new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality economic and social development, which strongly aligns with the EU’s focus on such topics as enhancing competitiveness and accelerating green and digital transition.

It is fully possible for the two sides to help each other succeed, achieve complementarity and mutual benefit at a higher level, and jointly facilitate sustainable development and economic recovery of the whole world.

Third, work together to further deepen practical cooperation.

China is steadily expanding institutional opening up, promoting alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and fostering a first-rate business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized.

We are also opening China wider to the outside world and further shortening the negative list for foreign investment access, which will create broader opportunities and better platforms for China–EU cooperation.

European partners are welcome to fully leverage their strengths, deepen industrial cooperation and enhance two-way market access, and share in the opportunities brought by China’s high-quality development and high-standard opening up.

Given the large scale and broad scope of China-EU economic and trade cooperation, differences and frictions are inevitable. The key is to properly address them through dialogue and consultation in line with the important consensus reached by the leaders of our two sides.

Standing at the starting point for the next 50 years of China-EU relations, we look forward to working with the EU to uphold the positioning of partnership, actively follow through on the important consensus reached by our leaders, leverage our complementary strengths and share opportunities through openness and development, and achieve common development and mutual success through deeper integration of interests, so as to jointly write a new chapter in China-EU practical cooperation.

This stakeholder article is paid for by a third party. All opinions in this article reflect the views of the author and not of EUobserver.