the obstacles and restrictions imposed by China with respect to market access, and
that China’s policies for environment, social security, intellectual property, tech-
nology transfer, etc. had caused unfair competition for European enterprises. Soon
afterwards, the European Commission issued a series of study reports entitled
Future Challenges and Opportunities in EU-China Trade and Investment
Relations,^9 which provided a detailed analysis of each important sector.
Frictions between China and the EU had been intensified and retrogression even
occurred in somefields as stated in the above policy papers. Therefore, it was
widely believed in academic circles and in the media that the“honeymoon period”
for China and the EU had ended. First, no substantial progress had been made in
two main appeals from China, namely the granting of market economy status and
the lifting of the ban on arms sales. Second, no resolution had been found as to the
differences regarding some multilateral issues between the two sides, which had, on
the other hand, been somewhat worsened. For example, frictions concerning the
Iranian nuclear issue and African issues became more acute. Third, the issue of
human rights once again became the focus for contradiction. Some people in the EU
even claimed that no progress had been made in the China-EU dialogues on human
rights, and some European countries even harmed China’s core interests under the
guise of“human rights”. For example, the heads of state or government of three big
powers, namely, the UK, France and Germany, met the Dalai Lama, forcing China
to postpone the 11th China-EU Summit originally planned to be held in France.
Meanwhile, the Beijing Olympic torch relay was beset with various obstacles in
London and Paris, thus China-EU relations underwent unprecedented setbacks and
turmoil in 2008.
2.1.3 2009–2013: China-EU Relations Returning to Normal
Track
Obviously, setbacks and unrest in China-EU relations were detrimental to the interests
of both sides. With concerted efforts from both sides, China-EU relations have
gradually returned to the normal track since 2009. On the Chinese side, Premier Wen
Jiabao made“the Journey of Confidence”to European countries in early 2009, which
played an irreplaceable role in rebuilding trust between the two sides. On Europe’s
side, the UK and Germany were thefirst to take measures to restore relations with
China: in January, the UK issued itsfirst policy paper in history towards China and
placed the relations with China as a“top priority”of its diplomacy in the future years;
China and Germany made a joint declaration on the concerted efforts in stabilizing the
world’s economic situation on January 29 during Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to
Germany. The Group of 20 (G20) Financial Summit held in London in April provided
(^9) http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/cfm/doclib_section.cfm?sec=120&link_types-&dis=20&sta=101&
en=1208&page=6&langId=en.
38 J. Li et al.