Since the turn of the 21st century, China has reached a new stage of economic development, making it is increasingly reliant on natural resources. As a way to tackle the mounting dependency on natural resources, the Chinese government has established various policy instruments, both at domestic and at international level. As part of its global strategy of diversifying its commodity imports, China has drastically increased its presence in Africa, a continent with strong historical and economic links with the European Union (EU) .
This article examines the EU's policy response to the Chinese non-energy raw materials policy in Africa. The overall argument put forward in this article demonstrates that the Chinese search for African natural resources does not necessarily imply a situation of rivalry with the EU, but on the contrary, a more cooperative approach could be in the interest of all actors involved.
Anna Katharina Stahl is a PhD researcher at the Institute for European Studies of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She holds a Master of Arts in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe.
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October 25, 2012
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