words, the EU recognized the objective for establishing a long-term, sustainable
and comprehensive relationship of cooperation with China and planned to develop
relations with China through a greater integration. Such an attitude generated new
opportunity to promote the China-EU cultural exchanges. In the following two
years, the EU successively hosted several events in the area of cultural exchanges in
parallel with the similar events between China and the EU member states. During
September 5–8, 2005, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic
relations, the EU hosted the Chinese Culture Summit in Brussels, with participation
of the Belgium World Tai Chi Association, the Belgium International
Neo-Confucianism Research Institute, the Center forZhouyi& Ancient Chinese
Philosophy of Shandong University, the China affairs official from the EU
International Liaison Department, the Belgian Secretary of State, etc. However, the
EU’s cultural exchange activities with China did not comprehensively unfold due to
restrictions from its limited competence from 2003 to 2005.
4.2 2006–2009: Establishment of the China-EU Cultural
Exchanges
New opportunities were available for developing China-EU cultural relations dur-
ing the period of 2006–2009. There are three factors driving the EU to intensify
cultural exchanges with China. First, with EU’s evolving recognition of China, the
enhancement of cultural exchanges became as an important means to enrich a more
reciprocal partnership between the two sides. Second, after 2007 the EU elevated
the status of cultural factor in its policy framework and valued more on cultural
exchange activities with international players including China. Third, development
of the EU-wide cultural exchanges with China was also mandatory for enabling the
expansion of the EU’s external competence as specified in theTreaty of Lisbon.
Meanwhile, the Chinese side was more dedicated to“cultural diplomacy”during
this period, which also drove the growth of China-EU cultural exchanges.
On October 24, 2006, the EU released a new policy paper towards China,
EU-China: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities, which showed great chan-
ges in the EU’s outlook on China. The paper emphasized at the beginning that in
the past decade China became a major power again as the fourth largest economy
and the third largest exporting country in the world with increasing political power.
This stance indicated the change of EU’s recognition of China from a transforming
economy into a strong power. Against this backdrop, the paper called for an
expansion of people-to-people connections with China, and indicated the EU would
take major and sustained actions from cultural exchanges and tourism to civil
society and academic contacts to reinforce the China-EU relations.^2
(^2) EU,“EU China: Closer Partners, Growing Responsibilities,”COM (2006) 632final.
96 T. Dewen