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On 8 September 2022, China-CEE Institute and Antall Jozsef Knowledge Centre co-organized a webinar on “Strengthening China-EU Cooperation in the Post-Epidemic Era”. Scholars from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), China-CEE Institute, China Institutes of contemporary international relations, the China Institute of International Studies, Fudan University, and Antall Jozsef Knowledge Centre, Belgrade University, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, the Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary participated the seminar.
The seminar was moderated by Prof. Chen Xin, Executive President of China-CEE Institute. Antall Horvath Veronica, Director of the Antall Jozsef Knowledge Centre and Prof. Chen gave welcome remarks respectively. Veronica pointed out that the EU and China are both partners and competitors, and that factors such as politics, diplomacy and funding all have an impact on the exact nature of their concrete cooperation. China has a leading influence in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, space research and technology and the deepening of scientific cooperation between the EU and China is important for the development of globalization, as it contributes to addressing global crises such as climate change and the pandemic. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022 has affected the world landscape, and cooperation between the EU and China is even more important in this new situation, where both sides need to reduce their differences and hostile messages. She highlighted the importance of the Chinese market and reviewed the history of scientific cooperation between Hungary and China. Finally, she concluded that online seminars are not enough for scientific cooperation. In the current situation, more joint research projects are needed between China and the EU to get to know each other better and to build the necessary trust.
Prof. Chen Xin welcomed the participants and expressed his gratitude to the Antall Jozsef Knowledge Centre for its long-standing support and cooperation with China-CEE Institute. He noted that the world has been faced with many new developments in the last three years. Firstly, the pandemic has created obstacles to travel and communication, which can easily lead to misunderstandings and result in incomplete reception of information. In addition, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has created a tense atmosphere in Europe, giving rise to trust issues between China and the EU. Prof. Chen Xin stated that China is not a threat to the EU and that some of the European new strategies to deal with China are totally unnecessary, especially in the context of the global epidemic and the long lack of communication between the both sides, it is all the more important to strengthen communication and dialogue and build mutual trust. He mentioned that the goal of today’s seminar is to explore opportunities for bilateral cooperation and analyze the current international situation.
During the first panel discussion, moderated by Prof. Chen Xin, Chen Yang, Deputy Director of the Institute of European Studies at the China Institutes of contemporary international relations, mentioned that Sino-European relations had been tense in recent years due to certain false allegations in the European media about the epidemic in China, comments about the Chinese position in the Russia-Ukraine war and other disputes. Prof. Chen affirmed the importance and possibilities of bilateral cooperation, and expressed his hope that China and Europe could rebuild trust and work together in a friendly manner to tackle global challenges. Prof. Dragana Mitrovic from the Head Centre For Asian Studies, Belgrade University, considered that Sino-European relations are one of the most important in global relations. She gave an overview of the changes in relations between China, Europe and the US in recent years and major global events, providing an in-depth analysis of the impact of the changing global situation. Then she expressed the hope that Sino-European relations will develop on the basis of equality and respect. Prof. Chen Xin made brief comments based on the speeches of the two previous speakers, advocating a multi-dimensional perspective rather than using an all-or-none thinking to judge things. In addition, he mentioned that China has long maintained peaceful diplomacy with its neighbors and that the European side’s consideration of China as a threat is ridiculous and lack of arguments. After that, Sandor Kusai, former Hungarian Ambassador to China and Associate Professor at Pázmány-Peter Catholic University, focused on the challenges faced by Sino-European cooperation in recent years in terms of three aspects: geo-economic transformation, geo-political transformation and transformation of China-Europe relations. He analyzed the world economic crisis of recent years, the new Cold War situation under the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the irreversible transition of China-Europe relations after the epidemic. Prof. Kusai concluded that Sino-European relations are facing many challenges. The bilateral cooperation will be hampered in many ways by internal economic and social problems that need to be solved. Thereafter, the participants joined discussion on the topics mentioned by the above speakers.
In the second panel discussion, moderated by Director Veronica, Dr. Zhao Junjie, senior researcher from Institute of European Studies at CASS reviewed the development of China-EU relations. He argued that China and Europe have a long history of in-depth and fruitful cooperation. However, many misunderstandings about China have arisen on the European side in the past two years due to communication barriers caused by the epidemic, and the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has exacerbated the situation. Europe needs to gain a deeper understanding of China, strengthen bilateral dialogue and exchanges, and continue the tradition of cooperation. Prof. Jin Ling, Director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, emphasized the changes in the world situation mentioned by the scholars present and the unpredictable impact it has on countries. She analyzed the shift in the EU’s foreign strategy and the reshaping of Sino-European relations from the perspective of the world’s economic and political transformation. Prof. Jin summarized her speech by hoping that the bilateral relation between China and EU could follow the trend of global transformation. Tamas Baranyi, Deputy Director for Strategy of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, reviewed the history of changes in transatlantic relations and shared his views on the changes and continuity of the Hungary’s Eastern Opening Policy. He showed the changes in the policies of countries within the EU and in national relations, and concluded that in the current world situation there is a greater need for the EU to consolidate its friendship with China. Ding Chun, Director of the Centre for European Studies at Fudan University, presented the Sino-European economic relations from three perspectives: the staus quo, problems and prospects. Based on data, Prof. Ding analyzed the respective trade advantages and types of trade between China and Europe, pointing out that the trade between China and Europe has been getting closer and closer over the years, and that the trade volume has been steadily increasing. Finally, he concluded that the potential for future economic cooperation between China and the EU is still huge, and that the EU should take a more rational view of its economic relations with China and strengthen communication between the two sides. Viktor Eszterhai, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, analyzed the impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war on China, Hungary and the relationship between the two countries. According to Eszterhai, the war has created economic and political obstacles in the world and that China and Hungary are not immune to it. She believes that we should reflect on the political turmoil of recent years and better promote our own country and globalization in all its aspects. Prof. Sandor Kusai then expressed his views on the above statements, stating that there is also a certain misunderstanding of the attitude of Chinese scholars towards the Europe. He argues that Europe does not attach importance to economic processes and is not hostile to China’s economic procedures; rather, it only focuses on resolving confrontations that are taking place, politically, ideologically and economically. He expects that Chinese scholars will be able to enhance their communication with Europe in the near future, after the end of the travel restrictions, to improve the accuracy of the information received.
Finally, Prof. Chen Xin summarized the event by thanking the participating scholars for their active participation and in-depth exchanges, noting that the last three years have been very difficult for both China and Europe, and that he hoped that offline contacts and exchanges would be revived for a better understanding of both sides. (Written by Xie Shilei )
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