The EU posted record bilateral trade with China last year, but it is "very unbalanced," the bloc's Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said Saturday.
The EU faces a significant challenge due to its deep economic ties with China, particularly evident in Germany's heavy reliance on Chinese imports and exports.
A sudden disconnection from China is not feasible. The EU missed opportunities to invest in intra-union infrastructure while dealing with Brexit.
If, as experts predict, China invades Taiwan in the next two years, the European economy could suffer greatly. Imposing embargoes on China and shifting production and imports to other nations will be necessary. Even though Germany might resist these embargoes initially, they are crucial for the EU's interests.
Just look at the strategic help the German government is giving to which industries. Currently it is basicly battery technology to protect against Chinese EVs, semiconductors for a similar reason and so forth. Fairly well targeted to reduce dependence on China. Obviously this is going to take years to really be done with, but it is happening.
At the same time the language is getting stronger and the German government has been warning companies from being too dependent on China. Most smaller ones are actually listening, but the big car makers are not and the current EV investigation is supported by the German government against the wishes of the German car industry. That might change, but thats the situation today.