EU–China Cooperation along the New Silk Road: A Balanced Approach Towards Common Goals?

This chapter examines higher education cooperation between the European Union (EU) and China in terms of its history, rationales, goals, mechanisms, instruments, and effects. It will first position the EU as a major policy actor in research and higher education and present a short history of its relations with China in these fields. It will sketch how this relationship has evolved over time, including the gradual changes to the modus operandi. An assessment will be made of policy effects and impacts, with a view to the search for a more balanced relationship. To what extent are the EU’s and China’s policies driven by common (global) goals? What are the patterns of convergence, divergence, cooperation, and competition? Are flows, partnerships and conditions for cooperation balanced? Challenges and persistent imbalances will be discussed with a view to how the relationship may be shaped in the next phase.