EU struggles to confront China's industrial dominance amid growing Brussels concern

Growing fears in Brussels that Europe is being squeezed by China's industrial machine have reignited debates about the EU's economic and political relationship with Beijing. Analysts from the Centre for European Reform and MERICS are weighing in on whether the bloc can finally take a harder stance. The relationship has been described as increasingly 'abusive' yet difficult to exit.

Concerns are mounting in Brussels that the European Union is being outmanoeuvred by China's vast industrial machine, prompting fresh debate about whether the bloc is finally ready to adopt a more assertive approach toward Beijing.

A Relationship Under Strain

Sander Tordoir from the Centre for European Reform and Grzegorz Stec from MERICS, a leading European research institute focused on China, have both highlighted the contradictions at the heart of the EU-China relationship. On one hand, China remains one of the EU's largest trading partners; on the other, European industries are increasingly struggling to compete with heavily subsidised Chinese exports flooding the single market.

The dynamic has been characterised by some analysts as resembling an 'abusive' partnership — one where the costs of staying are high, but the perceived costs of leaving feel even higher. European businesses remain deeply embedded in Chinese supply chains, making any sharp decoupling a potentially painful exercise.

Brussels Looks for Options

Policymakers in Brussels are exploring a range of tools, from trade defence instruments and investment screening mechanisms to broader industrial policy initiatives aimed at reducing strategic dependencies. The question, analysts say, is whether EU member states — many of which have significant bilateral trade interests with China — can reach the political consensus needed to act decisively.

The debate comes at a particularly sensitive moment, with the EU also managing a strained transatlantic relationship and an ongoing war in Ukraine. With geopolitical pressures multiplying, European leaders face pressure to define more clearly where China fits in the bloc's strategic priorities — whether as a partner, competitor, or systemic rival, a tripartite framework the EU itself has previously endorsed but struggled to operationalise.