Between De-Risking and Interdependence: Rethinking Europe-China Relations is a conference that brings together leading scholars, as well as policymakers and think tank representatives, with a focus on the development of Europe-China relations during the leadership of Xi Jinping. Since Xi Jinping’s ascent to power in China, relations between China and Europe have become increasingly securitised and tense. In 2019, the EU labelled China a ‘systemic rival’, and both the EU’s and the UK’s strategies began emphasising security concerns. The UK’s Integrated Review Refresh describes China as an ‘epoch-defining challenge’, also reflecting a shift toward a securitised, ‘de-risking’ approach. However, full de-risking from China is unrealistic due to economic interdependence and the need for cooperation on global issues like climate change and arms control. Balancing this approach requires clearly identifying the challenges posed by China’s geopolitical behaviour, and particularly by the issues of strategic and economic competition this poses to Europe. This collaborative project between the Centre for Geopolitics at Cambridge and CERI at Sciences Po explores this issue in a range of distinct, yet closely interrelated, strategic sectors crucial to contemporary relations between Europe and China and, more widely, geopolitics in the 21st Century.

Registration includes lunch, coffee and tea throughout the day, as well as other refreshments.