The EU is now China"s most important trading partner while China is the EU"s second most important partner after the US. With such an intensive trade relationship, it should come as no surprise that trade tensions have intensified between the two partners, particularly on issues such as market access and intellectual property rights, anti-dumping and other trade-remedy instruments. At the same time, the importance of the trade relationship makes it all the more important to find mutually beneficial solutions to these conflicts. The objective of this meeting is first to clarify European and Chinese economic policies towards each other and how they are formulated, and secondly to highlight various challenges seen from both sides and suggest ways of moving the relationship forward.

8:45 - Welcome addresses

Thierry de Montbrial, Founder and President of Ifri

Qu Xing, President of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)

9:10 - Formulating European and Chinese trade strategies

Mauro Petriccione, Director for Asia and Latin America, DG Trade, European Commission

Paul Hunsinger, Special Representative of the Director General for International Affairs, Direction générale du Trésor, France

Michael Smith, Jean Monnet Professor of European Politics, Loughborough University

Jin Ling, Research Fellow, Department for European Studies, CIIS

Chair: Françoise Nicolas, Director, Ifri Center for Asian Studies

10:45 - Networking/refreshment break

11:00 - Understanding and overcoming trade irritants

Cui Hongjian, Director, Department for European Studies, CIIS

Françoise Nicolas, Director, Ifri Center for Asian Studies

Raphael Leal-Arcas, Professor, International Economic Law, Queen Mary University, London

Chair: John Seaman, Research Fellow, Ifri Center for Asian Studies

12:30 - Concluding remarks