European China Policy: Track 1.5 Workshop 2023 (1)

Co-hosted by MERICS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, it was with much pleasure we were gathering for European China Policy Track 1.5 Workshop 2023 in Stockholm on April 17-18.

Now in its tenth edition, the European China Policy Track 1.5 Workshop has travelled through various European capitals. The format gathers senior officials from the foreign ministries of select EU member states (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the EU) as well as leading European China experts from the think tank community.

Sessions covered China’s internal and external political trajectory after the completion of the leadership reshuffle at the outset of Xi Jinping’s third term; China’s role in Russia’s war on Ukraine; challenges and opportunities of business cooperation, investments, and scientific collaboration with China; and the geoeconomics of the US-China tech rivalry and implications for the EU.

In 2023, the European China Policy Track 1.5 Workshop takes place biannually and moves with the presidency of the Council of the EU. This enables us to connect our discussions closely with the most relevant and pressing China policy debates taking place in EU capitals.

The conference took place on a strictly confidential basis.