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China’s EU Strategy in Chinese Scholars’ Words. Framing China’s Foreign Policy towards Europe in the Chinese International Relations Academia

Nejoumi, Valerio (2025) COSM40 20251
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Abstract
The European Union and China mark 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025 amidst intensifying international tensions. This research explored the Chinese international relations (IR) scholarly discourse to identify how Chinese academics perceive, interpret, and represent the EU. Drawing from 23 publications and two in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese scholars, the study found that the Chinese academic debate on the EU revolves around four major themes: the development of the IR discipline in China; the EU’s internal and external dynamics; challenges and prospects of EU-China relations; and the policy recommendations delineated by Chinese academics to the leadership. Grounded in social constructivism and postcolonialism, this... (More)
The European Union and China mark 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025 amidst intensifying international tensions. This research explored the Chinese international relations (IR) scholarly discourse to identify how Chinese academics perceive, interpret, and represent the EU. Drawing from 23 publications and two in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese scholars, the study found that the Chinese academic debate on the EU revolves around four major themes: the development of the IR discipline in China; the EU’s internal and external dynamics; challenges and prospects of EU-China relations; and the policy recommendations delineated by Chinese academics to the leadership. Grounded in social constructivism and postcolonialism, this study further observed that Chinese IR scholars do not necessarily share a positive perception of the EU. Such a factor, indeed, fluctuates over time and is often not discernible from Chinese academic publications. Rather, this research argued that Chinese scholars evaluate optimistically the EU considering that it is deemed essential for the realisation of China’s global vision. Specifically, the EU is regarded as the ‘third pole’ of the emerging multipolar international order. Furthermore, European and Chinese economic interests converge, therefore shedding light on the progressive evolution of EU-China relations. (Less)
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author
Nejoumi, Valerio
supervisor
organization
course
COSM40 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
EU-China relations, 中欧关系, China’s foreign policy, European Union, Chinese international relations scholarship, Chinese perceptions, Postcolonialism, Social constructivism
language
English
id
9212564
date added to LUP
2025-09-17 08:26:58
date last changed
2025-09-17 08:26:58
@misc{9212564,
  abstract     = {{The European Union and China mark 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025 amidst intensifying international tensions. This research explored the Chinese international relations (IR) scholarly discourse to identify how Chinese academics perceive, interpret, and represent the EU. Drawing from 23 publications and two in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese scholars, the study found that the Chinese academic debate on the EU revolves around four major themes: the development of the IR discipline in China; the EU’s internal and external dynamics; challenges and prospects of EU-China relations; and the policy recommendations delineated by Chinese academics to the leadership. Grounded in social constructivism and postcolonialism, this study further observed that Chinese IR scholars do not necessarily share a positive perception of the EU. Such a factor, indeed, fluctuates over time and is often not discernible from Chinese academic publications. Rather, this research argued that Chinese scholars evaluate optimistically the EU considering that it is deemed essential for the realisation of China’s global vision. Specifically, the EU is regarded as the ‘third pole’ of the emerging multipolar international order. Furthermore, European and Chinese economic interests converge, therefore shedding light on the progressive evolution of EU-China relations.}},
  author       = {{Nejoumi, Valerio}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{China’s EU Strategy in Chinese Scholars’ Words. Framing China’s Foreign Policy towards Europe in the Chinese International Relations Academia}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}