Dossier
EU-China Relations: Bound by Clean Tech or Divided by It?
Green Tech has emerged as one of the defining factors in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and China, intertwining their economic ambitions and security considerations with their climate commitments. China’s massive industrial capacity, underpinned by state subsidies and export-driven scale, has given it an unrivaled grip on critical technologies and raw materials.
For the EU, this asymmetry has turned clean tech from a shared ambition into a strategic challenge. Europe’s efforts to build its own clean-industrial base reflect not only environmental goals but an urgent quest for technological sovereignty. For policymakers, the question is now how to balance engagement with protection in a domain that increasingly defines both climate and competitiveness.
The Beijing Representative Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation has invited four analysts from China and Europe to examine the issue from two complementary perspectives: economic security and climate diplomacy. The articles reflect the opinions of their respective authors and should be read in the context of this series.
Contact
Arthur Tarnowski
Chief Representative, Beijing Representative Office, Heinrich Boell Foundation
E arthur.tarnowski@cn.boell.org
Climate Policy and Diplomacy
Prof. Yu Hongyuan (Professor, Tongji University) frames EU–China relations through the lens of global climate stewardship. He argues that both the EU and China must resist the drift toward fragmentation. Prof. Yu calls for integrated clean-technology supply chains, standards harmonization, and triangular cooperation involving third countries, particularly in the Global South. These mechanisms, he contends, would not only reduce friction within bilateral relations but also strengthen multilateral climate governance under the Paris framework. His approach emphasizes cooperation as a means to consolidate collective leadership in global decarbonization efforts.
This article is scheduled for publication shortly.
Belinda Schäpe (China Policy Analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)) cautions that diversification strategies in green technology must be technology-specific rather than uniformly applied. She proposes a four-pillar agenda: (1) institutionalized and structured engagement with China; (2) percentage-based import limits for critical technologies; (3) diversification through partnerships with alternative producers; and (4) attraction of Chinese investment under transparent and rule-based conditions. This approach aims to balance openness with resilience, allowing the EU to mitigate supply risks while leveraging China’s scale and innovation capacity.
This article is scheduled for publication shortly.
