Publications
Memorandum No. 175, INSS, Tel-Aviv, June 2018

China’s increasing involvement in Europe, against the background of its growing economic and political strength in the international domain, creates both risks and opportunities. From an economic viewpoint, the trade between China and Europe continues to grow, and is matched by greater Chinese investment in Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, there are substantive political disputes between the sides, particularly with respect to violations of human rights and the status of China in the World Trade Organization. The West European countries fear that China’s growing involvement will allow it to leverage its economic power in order to achieve political objectives. In addition, the increasing military cooperation between China and Russia arouses major concern among European countries, particularly in view of the change in American policy toward Europe under the Trump administration.