Anna Michalski, Zhongqi Pan: Unlikely Partners? China, the European Union and the Forging of a Strategic Partnership

Abstract

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the relations between China and
the EU, tracing the development of this complex, yet intriguing, relationship
between two substantially different actors. To uncover a deeper
understanding of this unlikely partnership, the authors analyze the
partnership through the prism of contending norms and worldviews. The
China-EU strategic partnership has evolved through fits and starts but
despite continuous trade disputes and severe diplomatic
misunderstandings, the EU and China pledge to uphold, even deepen, the
partnership. Policy experts and scholars will learn how such contending
bilateral relationships can be managed and establish a better
understanding of deep-seated conceptual differences between these two
entities.