EU — China trade cooperation in the context of the BRI: Analysis and perspectives on different examples of the EU countries

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the EU’s foreign trade relations with China following the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), assess trade intensity developments and identify the export potential of China’s largest trading partners in the EU. We established two hypotheses: 1) in the context of the BRI, the intensity of Chinese trade to the EU was higher than the intensity of EU trade to China during the period considered; 2) the export potential of the EU’s most important partners to China in 2019 focused on higher value-added commodities in the context of the BRI. We used the trade intensity index to confirm hypothese 1. In the case of hypothese 2, the export potential indicator was used to identify products that have good prospects for further export. The EU is China’s largest trading partner with a growing trend in mutual trade. An examination of trade intensity has shown that trade flows between countries have been lower than expected given the position of economies in the world economy. German exporters recorded the highest activity, but the Netherlands recorded the highest intensity of Chinese exports to the EU. Coetaneous, we can say that Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands had the untapped export potential to China, which mainly concerned motor vehicles and parts, machinery, and pharmaceutical components. The BRI can be seen as a slightly positive impact on the development of trade and investment cooperation between the EU and China.