On June 24, 2026, the China Europe International Business School held the 12th Europe Forum entitled “Competition or Complementarity? Strategic Opportunities in EU-China AI Development” in Brussels and Shanghai (simultaneously connected). Ambassador Cai Run, Head of the Mission of China to the European Union attended the forum and delivered opening remarks. The full text of Ambassador Cai’s remarks is below:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,
Good Morning! It is my great pleasure to be invited to the 12th Europe Forum held by the China Europe International Business School. At the outset, on behalf of the Chinese Mission to the EU, I would like to extend warm congratulations to the opening of the Forum and heartfelt gratitude to friends of all sectors who have been committed to developing China-EU relations! This year’s Forum will focus discussions on how China and the EU can cooperate in the field of AI. I believe your insights will be significant for advancing relations and facilitating cooperation between China and the EU.
This year marks the beginning of the second 50 years of China-EU relations, which are now at an important crossroads. There has been widespread attention to the impacts on EU’s China policy brought by the College of Commissioners on May 29 and the European Council on 18 and 19 of June. These developments have generated a lot of analysis and comments. Taking this opportunity, I would like to share with you the positions and considerations of the Chinese side on China-EU relations, and in particular, China-EU economic and trade cooperation.
First, China and the EU need to uphold the positioning of partnership. Located respectively on the east and west end of the Eurasian continent, China and the EU have no geopolitical disagreement or fundamental clash of interests. China and Europe are two major forces in building a multipolar world, two big markets supporting globalization, and two great civilizations advocating diversity. Their cooperation and consensus far outweigh competition and differences. The two sides are partners, not rivals, and certainly not enemies. Interdependence does not mean risks, and the convergence of interests does not represent threats. Amid growing changes and turbulence in the international landscape, both China and the EU remain stable, reliable and predictable forces. The China-EU relationship therefore carries greater strategic significance and global influence, and both sides have a stronger imperative to further strengthen their partnership and cooperation. The Chinese side has noticed that the readout of the College of Commissioners described China as a “critical partner.” China hopes that the EU can truly deliver on such a statement and take concrete actions to develop China-EU partnership.
Second, China and the EU need to uphold cooperation as the defining feature of their relationship. Over the past 50-plus years since China and the EU established diplomatic ties, the relationship has experienced ups and downs, but the overall trajectory has been one of steady progress, with cooperation as the mainstay. Our cooperation has delivered fruitful outcomes, benefiting our two peoples and the whole world. Both sides can not only strengthen cooperation in traditional fields including economy and trade, education, science and technology and tourism, but also discuss the possibility to expand cooperation in emerging sectors such as AI, green development and digital economy. Take AI for example, China has already built its own features and strengths in developing open-source models, applying AI at a large scale and integrating AI with new energy industry. Europe, for its part, enjoys distinctive advantages in AI-related basic research, high-end equipment manufacturing as well as regulatory rules. Our two sides can complement each other, leverage respective strengths, and jointly promote AI development. At this critical juncture of China-EU relations, China hopes that the two sides will work together, to expand the list of cooperation, shorten the list of differences, and inject new impetus into the growth of this relationship.
Third, China and the EU need to uphold the approach of addressing economic and trade differences and frictions through dialogue and consultation. The essence of China-EU cooperation is complementarity and mutual benefit. Given the large volume and broad areas of our economic and trade cooperation, it is inevitable to encounter differences and frictions. The key is to follow through on the important consensus reached between our leaders and engage in dialogue and consultation to properly address differences and frictions. China understands the EU’s efforts to improve competitiveness and safeguard economic security. Yet we oppose politicizing economic and trade issues and overstretching the concept of security. And we oppose taking restrictive and discriminatory measures against China under the name of “de-risking” and “reducing dependency.” Should the EU side insist on pursuing such measures, China will have to take countermeasures to firmly defend its legitimate interests. Actually, we are fully capable of addressing economic and trade differences and frictions through dialogues. As we can see, important progress was made in China-EU consultations on EV disputes early this year, and positive outcomes were achieved in the upgraded export control dialogue and consultation agendas. China hopes that the EU will work with China in the same direction, make good use of all platforms for communications, facilitate exchanges and cooperation, properly address differences and frictions, and work for the sound and steady development of our bilateral relations and cooperation.
Standing on a new starting point of China-EU relations, China sincerely hopes that the two sides will seize opportunities, tackle challenges, provide more positive and stable expectations and write an even brighter chapter together for our relations and cooperation. We also sincerely invite experts and friends present to contribute your insights into developing China-EU relations. The Chinese Mission to the EU stands ready to work with all of you to make contribution to moving China-EU relations forward!
To conclude, I wish this Forum a complete success!
Thank you!