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Shi Jiangtao

As the European Union prepares tougher measures to counter what it sees as the “China shock 2.0”, a researcher with a Beijing-linked think tank has accused Brussels of clinging to a flawed narrative that China’s economic rise is an inherent threat to Europe.
The criticism came as Beijing reportedly cancelled two high-level meetings with the EU in the Chinese capital this month, including a ministerial-level digital dialogue and a visit by a senior EU diplomat, according to the Financial Times on Thursday.
China’s foreign ministry on Thursday said the two sides remained in “communications on the relevant dialogue”.
EU sources told the South China Morning Post that both meetings – including a visit by Olof Skoog, deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service, the bloc’s diplomatic arm – had been postponed but it was not a retaliatory move by Beijing.
In an article posted on social media on Wednesday, Guo Mingxu, head of the Europe Economic Project at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, argued that Brussels was blaming China for its own failures.
“Narratives such as ‘China’s industrial upgrading equals a threat’ and ‘China’s export growth equals a hidden danger’ have proliferated, as if China’s normal development itself were an offence – a kind of ‘original sin’ against Europe,” he wrote.

Trade disputes have escalated in recent weeks ahead of crucial EU meetings on China policy scheduled for next week, including a debate by European foreign ministers in Luxembourg and a summit of the bloc’s 27 leaders in Brussels to discuss macroeconomic imbalances.
Beyond tariffs or market access, their disputes increasingly centre on fundamentally different narratives about what the trade imbalance means, with the European Commission declaring last month that “the current state of the trade and investment relationship is not sustainable” and promising a tougher response.
China’s Ministry of Commerce has warned that it would “resolutely retaliate and take effective measures to safeguard its own interests” if new restrictions went ahead, and state media suggested Beijing could launch anti-discrimination investigations and supply chain security reviews.
Noting the EU portrayal of Chinese manufacturing advances as a “survival crisis” for Europe and proposals to emulate the US Section 301 mechanism, Guo said the hardening tone in Brussels reflected not just concern over market distortion but a deeper structural weakness.
“The EU’s fixation on the ‘original sin’ narrative stems from its own challenges and strategic misperceptions,” he wrote.
Guo pointed to a reluctance in Brussels to acknowledge declining competitiveness and tackle internal problems such as lagging digitalisation, weak innovation, fragmented markets and inefficient policymaking.
“Instead of reform, it externalises blame, escalating restrictions on China,” he said.
Guo also linked the “original sin” narrative to ideological biases, differences in values and geopolitical positioning.
He said that as the EU faced heavy costs from the Ukraine war, severed Russian energy ties and transatlantic frictions over tariffs and defence burdens, it was seeking to “prove its ‘reliability’ to Western allies by adopting a hard line on China”.
This approach, he warned, politicised trade and risked eroding Europe’s “genuine strategic autonomy”.
Guo also argued that the EU’s fixation on the goods trade deficit was misplaced, saying it ignored Europe’s “strong demand for affordable, reliable Chinese products” ranging from consumer goods to green‑tech items that could help ease inflation and support the bloc’s energy transition.
He said the imbalance reflected EU restrictions on hi‑tech exports to China, stressing that “trade surpluses and deficits are normal outcomes of comparative advantages, industrial structures and market forces, not evidence of any ‘original sin’.”
Guo said Chinese competitiveness stemmed from scale economies, integrated supply chains and rapid innovation developed under fierce domestic competition, rather than alleged unfair subsidies.


His arguments echoed a commentary run by state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday that highlighted the complementary nature of China-EU ties, the EU’s services trade surplus with China, the benefits of Chinese goods for European consumers and industry, and the costs of Brussels’ “de-risking” strategy.
Meanwhile, Xinhua reported on Wednesday that China’s vice-minister of commerce Ling Ji met Ditte Juul Jorgensen, director general for Trade and Economic Security at the European Commission on Tuesday in Brussels.
The report said both sides agreed to pursue concrete results from their first China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism to “stabilise bilateral economic and trade relations, and promote their sustainable development”.


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It comes as Beijing reportedly cancelled two meetings with the EU this month, and as the bloc prepares for key talks on China policy


It comes as Beijing reportedly cancelled two meetings with the EU this month, and as the bloc prepares for key talks on China policy.


Europe is blaming China’s economic rise for its own failures, think tank says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}It comes as Beijing reportedly cancelled two meetings with the EU this month, and as the bloc prepares for key talks on China policy

It comes as Beijing reportedly cancelled two meetings with the EU this month, and as the bloc prepares for key talks on China policy