The impact of economic factors on the formation of the PRC’s image in Europe.

Abstract

Starting from 2008, trade and economic cooperation between the EU and the PRC have undergone significant changes. According to the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation and the Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy, such spheres as investments, infrastructure, high-tech industry, intellectual property rights, trade regulation, and markets’ access are critically important for the EU-China economic cooperation. Relations in these spheres define existing and potential challenges to the EU member states. The purpose of this article is to analyze and trace the impact of economic factors on the formation of China’s image among European countries.

After analyzing each sphere, which has critical importance, studying illustrative examples of cooperation between parties, and tracing their influence on the EU policy vis-à-vis the PRC, several conclusions can be made. First, the image of China and factors, which define it, are transforming at the present moment. Second, the absence of commonly developed rules and regulations of trade and economic activities, technical underdevelopment of facilities that do not allow tracing and proving corrupt practices, challenges in developing joint foreign policy among the EU member states, create additional obstacles to develop effective cooperation between parties. A distinctive feature of this situation is that decisions made by the EU member states vis-à-vis the PRC, are determined to a certain extend by the perception of China. Third, it can be assumed that further transformation of the PRC’s image will occur after 2020 caused by partial mitigation or transformation of factors which determine China’s negative image.