The European Union and China are linked by an enduring relationship. They are two of the three largest economies and traders in the world. China is now the EU's second biggest trading partner behind the United States and the EU is China's biggest trading partner. Both sides are committed to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Europe has a long-term interest to work together with China on a number of bilateral, regional and global issues in which we play a crucial role. Europe and China have to be part of global solutions to planet-size problems like tackling the COVID-19 pandemic or mitigating climate change.

In this regard, the EU will continue to conduct its policy towards China in line with a more realistic, assertive and multi-faceted approach. This approach will ensure that relations with this strategic partner are set on a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial course. China is, simultaneously, in different policy areas, a cooperation partner with whom the EU has closely aligned objectives, a negotiating partner with whom the EU needs to find a balance of interests, an economic competitor in the pursuit of technological leadership, and a systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance. This requires a flexible and pragmatic whole-of-EU approach enabling, not only a principled defence of interests and values, but also the achievement of concrete results, particularly in areas such as trade and investment, climate change, biodiversity, response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and international affairs.