Two facts are fundamental for the EU’s orientation towards China.

One is that the US is now at best indifferent to the survival of the rules-based international order. Europe is largely left alone to defend the international governance under which it thrives. The other is that China is building a global economic network with itself as the centre. This can be seen in the Belt and Road Initiative, its push for technological leadership, and, less visibly, an interest in monetary dominance of which payments technology and a new digital renminbi will be part. The effect is to push countries to align with China’s economy and rules, rather than Europe’s.

Put together, these two facts mean that for the first time in the history of the European project, the EU has to go on the offensive in order to defend its interests. What this means is restoring itself as a pole of attraction for third countries and projecting its influence with them just as much as China does and as the US has done in the past.