Today, the idea of both giant economies, China and the European Union, joining hands and fully harnessing the synergies between them both, will definitely not be dismissed as a flight of fancy. To give a brief but expository summary: China and the EU are the two biggest traders in the world; the EU is China’s biggest trading partner whilst China also comes close to becoming the EU’s biggest trading partner, following closely behind the US. Since China’s accession to the WTO in December 2001, which was hailed as an important milestone in China’s integration into the global economy, trade relations between China and the EU have gathered momentum at an incredible pace. They now trade over €1bn every single day.

China’s growing presence on the continent is welcomed by the EU which is a grand connectivity initiative in itself and whose ultimate aim is to promote connectivity both within and beyond its borders; therefore, the EU’s objective in this respect very much complements China’s “going out” strategy.

In January 2016, China officially became a member of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), of which the EU is the biggest proponent through its generous provision of grants (€179m) that accounted for half of the donor funding to the EBRD in 2015. The People’s Bank of China Governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, highlights that China’s accession to the EBRD will provide a platform to share experiences in economic transition and development with other member states. Furthermore, there are clear overlaps in the EBRD’s efforts to promote economic connectivity in the very regions that are also covered by China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, which involves a sophisticated network of high-speed railways, ports, pipelines, and highways connecting Asia to Europe.