Eu Economic Policy Research

On the basis of common faith and common interests, the European Union has already developed into an omni-directional political and economic alliance today. As one of the three major economic entities in the world and the main formulator of international trade regulations, the EU plays a very important role in the world economy and international trade. Since the EU is one of the main trading partners of China and enjoys increasingly closer economic and trade relations with China, the development trend of the EU's economic and trade policy toward China will certainly exert a significant influence on the development of China's economy and trade. Therefore, whether from the perspective of studying China-EU relations or from the point of promoting China's economic and trade relations with the EU, it is of great value in theory and significance in practice to make a systematic and deep study of the state of China-EU economic and trade relations and the EU's economic and trade policy toward China. This paper systematically investigates the evolution of the EU's economic and trade policy toward China both macroscopically and microcosmically, paying particular attention to the changes of its policy in the 1990s, from the perspective of international relation theories as well as that of historical progress, so as to achieve an correct understanding of the characteristics, essence and development trend of the EU's economic and trade policy toward China. The paper also analyzes the concrete problems existing in China-EU economic and trade relations and proposes some counter-measures, thus providing a certain basis for the formulation and adjustment of China's economic and trade policy toward the EU. This paper consists of four parts. Part One explains the EU's external economic and trade policy and its policy toward developing countries, including the descriptions of relevant concepts, basic contents and development course, etc., which functions as the preclude for further discussions. Part Two deals with the development of the EU's trade relations with China by analyzing concrete data, focusing on the objective situation of EU-China trade since the beginning of the 1990s, studies the contents related to economic and trade affairs in the EU's main policy documents, and then delves into the characteristics of the EU's economic and trade policy to China since 1990s. Part Three applies the theory of structivism and the geo-economic theory in the theoretical analysis of the development and change of the EU's economic and trade policy toward China since 1990s, from the macroscopic angle of international relations. Part Four examines the factors which influence the development of the EU's economic and trade relations with China, predicts the future orientation of its policy, and offers some feasible principles and concrete policy suggestions on China's economic and trade policy toward the EU. The concluding remarks are concerned with some topics which remain for further investigation.From the discussions above, the author comes to the conclusion: (1) The EU's demand for economic benefits from China and its perception of China's geo-economic position determine the ascending trend of the EU's economic and trade relations with China; (2) There are some restrictions in the increasing trend, but the EU's economic and trade relations with China are expected to develop steadily within this limit; (3) The convergence of market economy institutions and the consciousness of identity are the important factors influencing the development of the EU's economic and trade relations with China; (4) China should not be too optimistic in evaluating the prospect of the economic and trade relations between the EU and China. In order to promote the sound development of the China-EU economic and trade ties,the key lies in making a long-term and feasible economic and trade strategy and concrete policy toward the EU, strengthening China's power to deal with economic and trade affairs with the EU and improving itself in a more...