07/10/2026
🇪🇺 🇨🇳 EU-China relations: From trade tensions to common ground?
At the end of June, the EU and China established a new high-level dialogue format to address the imbalances in their trade relationship. With the next round of talks between EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, starting tomorrow in Beijing, expectations for concrete progress are rising.
The pressure on the European Commission to address the impact of Chinese imports on European industries has been increasing, while China has already signalled that it will respond to further EU trade restrictions with countermeasures.
Against this backdrop, one question becomes increasingly important:
How can we move from trade tensions towards solutions that work for both sides?
At the Global Solutions Summit 2026, Joe Kaeser, industry expert and participant in the EU-China roundtable, shared his perspective on the role business can play in bridging the gap between politics and economics.
His approach is straightforward:
➡️ Find joint interests. Look at concrete industries — from automotive and steel to telecom, chemicals and pharmaceuticals — and identify where European and Chinese interests overlap.
➡️ Address pain points. Put yourself in the other side’s shoes: What do they want to achieve? What do they need to hear? What would constitute fair treatment?
➡️ Look for common ground. Political and economic differences are real. But framing the relationship primarily as “systemic rivalry” can make constructive dialogue more difficult. Instead, focus on what both sides want to achieve and where their interests intersect.
As Joe Kaeser puts it: “Find joint interests, address pain points, and trade solutions.”
Can business help turn shared interests into concrete solutions in a more fragmented geopolitical landscape?
🎥 Watch the full conversation between Joe Kaeser and Marie-Florence Mahwera from : https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/article/geopolitics-and-business-solutions-for-a-fragmented-world/
Shared Interests. Common Ground.
