Explaining Economic Frictions Between China and the European Union

Abstract

Rarely has the rise of a power been received with such high expectations as when the European Union embraced China's stellar growth at the turn of the century. Beijing became a beehive for delegations of foreign business leaders and politicians that wanted to catch a glimpse of the new economic miracle. China's accession to the World Trade Organization was met with the expectation that its market would yield endless opportunities for investors and exporters. ``This is a time for optimism about the future,'' European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson stated in 2004: Chinese membership has been good for the World Trade Organization, and good for China. Tariff rates and non-tariff barriers have plummeted since the nineties. There is further to go in implementation, for example of intellectual property rights. But the changes that have already taken place have created opportunities for European traders and service providers with massive increases in market access