China turning towards Europe

. The writer is a former caretaker finance minister and served as vice-president at the World Bank One of the themes I have explored in the essays written for this newspaper is the impact on Pakistan of the massive changes occurring in the global economy and the structure of world politics. In the article today, I will examine how China is cultivating a closer relationship with the countries of the European Union and how that could affect the geopolitical space of which Pakistan is one part. China is moving in this direction because of the unrelenting hostility shown to it by Donald Trump's America. Given the approach Trump has chosen to follow, Xi Jinping's China is looking for other partners in international economy and politics. China, a rapidly rising global economic power, owes much of its rise to exporting what were once cheaply produced products to the markets in the West — the United States and Europe. However, with the rise in domestic wages, China has moved towards the manufacture of advanced and technologically sophisticated items for exports to the United States and Europe. But Trump's America is using high tariffs as the most important policy instrument for regulating foreign trade. One consequence of this policy is that China is finding it difficult to export its manufactures to the United Staes, once its largest foreign market. It is looking to find other destinations for its products. This search has taken it to Western Europe. Both the European Union and individual leaders of EU member countries are responding enthusiastically to the Chinese reach. They too are trying to find a way of working with the Trumpian world. One of the leaders who have responded very positively to China reaching out to Europe is French President Emannuel Macron. He spent three days on a visit to China from December 3 to 5, 2025, and had a long meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing and then went to Sichuan in the country's south to watch cultural activities. The two leaders witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation agreements, addressed the media and participated in the closing ceremony of the seventh China-France Business Council meeting. It is right to attach a lot of importance to this visit by Macron. Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffrin described the Macron visit as "a significant opportunity for Beijing and Paris to recalibrate their partnership and deepen their joint vision for global governance." Speaking at a joint press conference, the leaders of both sides agreed to enhance mutual political trust, expand practical cooperation, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges and advance in and the reform of global governance. "They agreed to consolidate cooperation in the traditional areas such as aviation, aerospace and nuclear energy and expand cooperation." Raffin said both nations — major players in global affairs — stand to benefit from stronger trade, expanded investment and closer people-to-people exchanges. The former French prime minister identified three core objectives for rebalancing ties: deepening economic partnerships, shaping global governance ahead of China's APEC hosting of the multinational group, France's G7 presidency and strengthening cultural cooperation. France is an important part of the 25-member European Union, but it is not its largest economy. That happens to be Germany which is now deeply involved in restructuring its economy and its political system. One element it shares with the rest of Western Europe is a very low rate of human fertility which has resulted in a declining size of the population and its aging. The country needs to bring in the youth, but that tolerance of immigration has created domestic tensions. The immigrants coming in are from mostly low-income countries. Many of them belong to the Islamic faith. But this article is about China's relations with Europe and migrations from China is not of any consequence. What is important are economic linkages. And here the erstwhile division of Germany has played a role. Germany has not fully recovered from its spilt into two parts after the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War that pitted the United States and Western Europe against Russia which remained after the demise in 1991 of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USSR. This conflict was fought from 1945 to 1991. It split Germany into two parts: the western part closely aligned with the United States and the eastern part closely linked with Russia. The USSR collapse reunited Germany which is now developing new relations with the world. Whereas, while the Russians were influencing Germany, it aligned itself closely with the Communist China. Now freed from the Russian influence, it is ready to work a new relationship with China. China's reach out to Europe brings two poles of the multipolar world closer to Pakistan. Beijing is now busy building extensive roads and railway networks that would bring it...

China turning towards Europe

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