Selective engagement as a model of contemporary EU–China relations

Abstract

This article examines the model of selective engagement as a leading framework for understanding contemporary relations between the European Union and the People’s Republic of China in the context of the transformation of the global international order. The relevance of the topic is determined by the growing role of the EU and China as key economic and political actors in the world system, as well as by the increasing complexity of their interaction, which combines elements of cooperation, competition, and strategic caution. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1975 and the proclamation of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2003, EU–China relations have undergone significant evolution. This transformation became particularly evident after 2019, when the European Union officially defined China simultaneously as a partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival. Against the backdrop of geopolitical instability, technological change, climate challenges, and the crisis of traditional models of globalization, relations between the EU and China are acquiring new meaning and require conceptual rethinking. The study employs systemic, institutional, and comparative approaches, which make it possible to analyze EU–China relations as a multidimensional process in which high economic interdependence coexists with political and value-based contradictions. The empirical base of the research includes official documents of the European Union and China, materials from international organizations, statistical data, as well as academic publications by European and Chinese scholars. The article substantiates that selective engagement represents a response both to the impossibility of returning to a model of full-fledged strategic partnership and to the reluctance of the parties to move toward open confrontational rivalry. It is demonstrated that cooperation between the EU and China is primarily preserved in the areas of trade, climate policy, global governance, and scientific innovation, while restraint and competition dominate in issues related to technological security, human rights, and geopolitics. The study concludes that the model of selective engagement performs a stabilizing function under conditions of growing tension in the international system and can be regarded as the most realistic scenario for the development of EU–China relations in the medium term, as it allows for the management of contradictions, the maintenance of institutional dialogue, and the preservation of space for pragmatic cooperation.