Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, vol.22, no.2, pp.695-714, 2020 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
China's rapid economic growth and integration into the global economies havelargely significant economic impacts and political implications for the EU. Since China’saccession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the flows of trade have expandedsubstantially. Building on long-existing relations, the EU has established links with Chinasince the 1970s. Over the past decades, the relationship between China and the EU hasthus evolved into comprehensive strategic partnership. Both parties have employed severalstrategies such as summit diplomacy, bilateral approaches, multilateral cooperation, policypapers to improve ties and overcome growing concerns. Economic interests have remainedprimary.After an overview of the historical evolution of political relations, this paperconsiders the three main motives which may drive China to provide economic relationswith the EU, such as granting the market economy status, the needs of the foreign directinvestments (FDI), growth in the volume of trade. The last part of the paper examines theinterests and dilemmas of the China- EU economic relationship using the neoliberal theoryof international politics as a framework for analysis. With this last point in mind, this paperattempts to analyse the relationship between interdependence and conflict with casestudies.