Europe’s business chiefs see EU-China relations worsening

A majority of Europe’s chief executives believe relations between Europe and China will worsen over the next three years, with the EU’s de-risking strategy and Beijing’s close ties with Moscow cited as the greatest areas of friction.
The European Round Table for Industry (ERT), which includes chief executives and chairs of large European companies such as ASML and Unilever, found 54% of those surveyed believed EU-China relations would deteriorate, with just 7% seeing improvement.
The European Union is China’s largest export market for goods, while China is the third largest market for EU goods.
In the ERT’s survey published on Wednesday, China-based CEOs of Western multinationals were more upbeat than counterparts in Europe, with the number expecting no change outweighing those who saw a worsening of ties.