Unlikely Partners?: China, the European Union and the Forging of a Strategic Partnership

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the relations between China and the EU, tracing the development of this complex, yet intriguing, relationship between two substantially different actors. To uncover a deeper understanding of this unlikely partnership, the authors analyze the partnership through the prism of contending norms and worldviews. The China-EU strategic partnership has evolved through fits and starts but despite continuous trade disputes and severe diplomatic misunderstandings, the EU and China pledge to uphold, even deepen, the partnership. Policy experts and scholars will learn how such contending bilateral relationships can be managed and establish a better understanding of deep-seated conceptual differences between these two entities.  

Dr. Anna Michalski is Associate Professor at the Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden, and research fellow at the Europe Institute at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. 

Zhongqi Pan is Professor of International Relations at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai China.