EU exports to China have grown at a double-digit pace since the pandemic struck a year ago, a rare bright spot in Europe’s otherwise bleak economic landscape.
But China’s actions in places such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong have made it clear to European companies that trade with China can be a double-edged sword, prompting some to reassess their links to the world’s second-largest economy and call on their governments to take a harder line with Beijing on human rights and unfair competition.
Since the pandemic first struck, China has become the EU’s largest trading partner for goods, the source of almost a quarter of wares imported into the bloc last year, while 10 per cent of the EU’s exported goods went the other way. Two-way trade has risen by 67 per cent in the past decade, compared with the 19 per cent growth between the EU and other countries.