friendship”.^8 In comparison, the statements by EU leaders tended to take the
China-EU strategic partnership as a direction towards development and a potential
area, rather than a status eligible for an overall definition. Herman Van Rompuy,
President of the European Union remarked that leaders of the EU member States and
governments strongly aspired to develop a reliable, creative and forward-looking
strategic partnership with China, and the EU and China’s strategic discussions about
the challenges of today and tomorrow, such as energy security, food safety and
cyber-crimes were justified. He emphasized that“the China-EU strategic partnership
should become a steady force”.^9 Jose Barroso, President of the European
Commission, believes that“the China-EU strategic partnership is more relevant in a
world of rapid globalization.”^10 Catherine Margaret Ashton, Vice-President of the
EU and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs explained that“how to
fully explore the potential in the strategic cooperation between China and us is a
determining topic for EU leadership.”^11 Despite trivial differences in wording, the
two sides attach equal importance to China-EU relations.
Thefirst two or three years after China and the EU announced the establishment of
the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership are regarded as the“honeymoon”of the
relationship. Several major powers of the EU presented a standpoint similar to
China’s towards the US-Iraq war (2003), which created an atmosphere of strategic
mutual trust in China-EU relations. During the“honeymoon”of China-EU relations,
both sides held great expectations of their common development, and also explored
cooperation in more areas. In 2004, the unprecedented enlargement of the EU made
the EU become China’s biggest trading partner, and China’s adaptation to the WTO
rules as well as the continuous economic growth at an annualized 10 % plus also
brought opportunities for economic growth to the EU. But such a“honeymoon”did
not last long. In October 2006, when the European Commission’s new policy
towards China was launched,^12 “growing responsibilities”and“competition and
(^8) “Premier Wen Jiabao Attended the Sixth Chinese-German Forum for Economic and
Technological Cooperation and delivered a speech”, http://gb.cri.cn/27824/2011/06/29/
3245s3290820.htm.
(^9) Speech by Herman VAN ROMPUY President of the European Council at the Central Party
School,“Europe and China in an Interdependent World,”http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/
cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/122013.pdf.
(^10) “Statement by President Barroso Following Executive-to-Executive Meeting with Chinese
Premier Wen-Beijing,”29th April 2010,http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-10-197_en.
htm.
(^11) “Speech of High Representative Catherine Ashton at the EU Strategic Dialogue with China,”
Gödöllö,April17,2011,[email protected],http://www.eeas.europa.eu.
(^12) This paper is made up of two parts. The part about economy and trade was published in the form
of a work paper, proposing that the EU and China were in“competition and partnership”in the
field of trade and investment. The part about politics was submitted to the European Council and
the European Parliament in the form of a briefing that emphasized the“growing responsibilities”
between the EU and China. See, the European Commission work paper: Competition and
Partnership: A Policy on EU-China Trade and Investment (October 24, 2006), fromThe European
Union and China (1948–2008): Basic Documents and Commentary(Part I), written and edited by
8 H. Zhou