China–European Union relations
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Relations between China and the European Union (EU) or Sino–European relations were established in 1975. According to the European External Action Service, the EU and China relations aim for cooperation in the areas of "peace, prosperity, sustainable development and people-to-people exchanges." The EU is China's largest trading partner, and China is the EU's second largest trade partner after the United States, while the EU has put an arms embargo and numerous anti-dumping measures in place.
In the jointly adopted EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation of 2013, the EU reaffirms its respect for China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while China reaffirms its support to EU integration. The annual EU-China Summit is being held each year to discuss political and economic relations as well as global and regional issues.
Relations are governed by the 1985 EU-China Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Since 2007, negotiations have been underway to upgrade this to a new European Union Association Agreement and there are already 24 sectoral dialogues and agreements from environmental protection to education.
After the end of the Cold War, relations with Europe were not as high a priority for China as its relations with the US, Japan and other Asian powers. However interest in closer relations started to rise as economic contacts increased and interest in a multipolar system grew. Although initially imposing an arms embargo on China after Tiananmen (see arms embargo section below), European leaders eased off China's isolation. China's growing economy became the focus for many European visitors and in turn Chinese businessmen began to make frequent trips to Europe. Europe's interest in China led to the EU becoming unusually active with China during the 1990s with high-level exchanges. EU-Chinese trade increased faster than the Chinese economy itself, tripling in ten years from USD14.3 billion in 1985 to USD45.6 billion in 1994.
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