Africa-EU-China: Avenues for a New Economic Partnership?

Tuesday, 4th February 2020 / 16h30-18h00 (registration from 16h00) / EIAS, Rue de la Loi 26, 10th Floor, Brussels.

The European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) and the European Business Council for Africa (EBCAM, a non-profit business organisation dedicated to the promotion of the private sector in Africa) organized a Briefing Seminar addressing these issues on 4 February 2020 in Brussels. The event has shed light on the potential venues of cooperation and ways forward in trilateral Africa-EU-China economic cooperation.

More than 200 people from the public and private sector (EU institutions, international instititions, international corporations, academia, media and civil society associations) participated in the conference and exchanged views from different perspectives on the topic.

Africa is today’s second fastest growing region in the world. The EU is its largest trade partner and investor, and is now looking to develop greater economic synergies with actors from the continent. The new European Commission is committed to scale up its business exchanges and trade partnerships with the region.

The last two decades have also seen a growing presence of Chinese businesses in Africa. Not just state-led ventures, but also private Chinese enterprises have become increasingly engaged in trade and investment with many countries around the continent. China’s new role in Africa has not been overlooked by the other economic partners active in the region.For this reason, since 2008, the EU has been working on the creation of a framework of trilateral Africa-EU-China cooperation encompassing several areas, from trade to security and development. The most recent evidence of this commitment was on July this year, when the 11th Round of China-EU Consultation on African Affairs was held in Beijing. But how to ensure that this new trilateral partnership adheres to the good practices, standards and regulations on which the rule-based multilateral system is built?