Challenging the EU’s Economic Roles? The Impact of the Euro zone Crisis on EU Images in China

Abstract

With the outbreak of the 2008/09 global financial crisis, the economic balance between the traditional developed economies and the emerging ones changed drastically, including that between the European Union and China. While the EU was preoccupied by the Eurozone debt crisis, stagnant economic growth and high domestic unemployment, China has risen as the world’s second largest economy. This chapter explores the change in perception of the EU as an economic actor in the eyes of Chinese mainstream news media and national elites in such a context. It argues that the strategic partnership can improve only if the two sides understand the mutual perception clearly. It is found that China has increased its leverage for bargaining vis-a-vis the EU and the capacity to offer help to the EU. Even though the EU’s image as an economic powerhouse was slightly weakened, it did not transform the heavily trade-oriented EU-China relations a more comprehensive perspective.