Taking stock of Europe's relations with China

China and the European Union will hold their annual meeting in Brussels on 6 October. Ahead of the meeting MEPs debated Europe's relationship with China on 21 September and issues ranging from trade, climate change and human rights were raised. The relationship is complex with China's growing economic clout making it a force to be reckoned with on the international stage. Despite recognising the importance of the trade relationship - many MEPs are concerned by human rights issues.

Flourishing trade with China

The trading relationship between the two has never been closer or more productive. The 27 States of the European Union represent China's largest trading partner. In addition Europe imports more Chinese goods than from any other country. This trade is growing at over 16% a year and China is still the EU's number one source of manufactured goods.

Despite this, the relationship has been dogged by controversies over piracy, intellectual copyright (where European ideas and technology are copied or stolen) and in ensuring that Beijing complies by the rules of the World Trade Organisation.

A changing climate

In the last two years China has become the world's largest emitter of CO2 emissions. This has come hand in hand with its growing industrialisation and rising standards of living. Many Chinese leaders are anxious to continue this growth and have reacted strongly when already industrialised Western countries have tried to get China to agree to international agreements reducing emissions which Beijing fears could jeopardise growth.

The most striking example of this was the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks last December which will reconvene in Cancun Mexico at the end of the year. Although China is now becoming a world leader of clean energy production is clear that getting binding emission targets both for the industrialised and developing world will be one of the major sticking points in Cancun if a deal replacing Kyoto after 2012 is to be reached. Since 2005 the EU and China have had an official partnership on climate change which has focused on such projects as "zero emissions" coal technology based on CO2 capture and storage.

Chinese "Laogai" camps condemned by MEPs

Less than two weeks ago MEPs debated ways in which produce from Chinese work camps - "Laogai", could be prevented from entering Europe. It is believed that many of these act as private enterprises and advertise their goods - despite the fact that the inmates are prisoners. The United States has already banned such products from its market although there is no equivalent European law yet.

The freedom of the internet in China behind the "firewall of China" is also a case where Europe and China have differed. One man who has campaigned for greater freedom using the internet is cyber-dissident Hu Jia who was awarded the Parliament's 2008 Sakharov human rights prize in absentia but who still remains behind bars.