For China and the European Union, which have no fundamental differences or conflicts, there is no better choice than cooperation. Restoring routine bilateral official exchanges, which have been disrupted over the past three years by the COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent geopolitical elements, is a matter of urgency for both sides.

It is good to know this is already on their agenda. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi invited EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and his delegation to visit China in the fall. In a telephone call on Sunday, both diplomats mentioned preparations for a leaders' meeting later this year, an important signal of a shared interest in strategic communication and fence-mending.

Reiterating the bilateral consensus on cooperation as a main characteristic of the China-EU relationship, Wang appealed for more "institutionalized dialogue" between the two sides. While highlighting the EU's dedication to developing better relations with China, Borrell said the EU's "Global Gateway" and China's "Belt and Road" are not battling against each other, but mutually complementary.

Brussels' recent identifying of China as a systemic rival and calls for "de-risking" from a dependency on Chinese supply chains have resulted in considerable confusion both in China and the rest of the world, as such measures seem to be aligning the EU with the United States' strategy to contain China. A perception that is reinforced by the ongoing "recalibration" of the EU's foreign policy that is integrating it with Washington's "Indo-Pacific" geopolitical deployments.

Such a shift is driven more by the US' strategic needs than those of the EU.

China and the EU no longer seem to be the cozy partners they used to be, when business was just business, before Washington decided to take a wrecking ball to the global economic trade system.

With Washington reveling in its demolition work, in the delusion that it would be spared any permanently deleterious consequences, it soon became apparent that no countries were to be permitted to be friends with its "enemies". As a result, in an abrupt break from the general friendliness that both sides had long taken for granted, relations between the EU and China have become increasingly fraught. The EU's "de-risking" is a prescription for mutual damage. Both sides know it, but there appears to be no option when the politicians in Brussels have to take China as an imminent threat to stay in Washington's good books. Beijing, on its part, is left with no choice but to push back. The two sides now find themselves in a standoff that is neither of their creation, nor to their liking.

In their talks on Sunday, both Wang and Borrell made it clear that both sides hope to use the forthcoming meetings to put relations on firmer ground so as to inject new and strong impetus into the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. If it is truly striving for strategic autonomy, there is certainly no reason for the EU to sacrifice its relationship with China, which is mutually beneficial.