The interest for EU matters is growing in China

I just started my weekly commentary on Radio Macao. This is a new page, to be broadcast every Tuesday, on European affairs. Rui Flores, who has worked for the UN as a Political Officer and is a professional journalist, besides being an academic at the University of Macao, is the anchor – a very creative one for that matter – and I am the programme´s resident commentator. My role is to share my views on the week´s key European events.

The programme responds to a growing interest on the EU in China, Macao and Hong Kong.

China is about to celebrate 40 years of cooperation with the EU. Its leaders want it to expand and are ready to negotiate new political and trade agreements with the EU. They are giving a special attention to the new Silk Road project that should better link their country with Central Asia and Europe. Their ambition is as vast as their country and the needs of their very large population: 1,355 billion people. There is still a long way to go before the two parties sign a Free Trade Agreement. But, in the meantime, trade and investment are moving ahead, mainly for the benefit of the Chinese.

The fact of the matter is there are many common interests. Distance is big enough to keep rivalries at bay, but not too far for the ships and trains that bring goods in both directions. Actually, the train link is the future. And, as a future, it is already around the corner, as the first trains have started to move since the end of last year.