Illustration: VCG

Editor's Note: 

Since the beginning of 2026, geopolitical conflicts have been occurring with increasing frequency, and international oil prices have experienced significant volatility. Against this backdrop, Europe's energy storage market has seen a surge in demand, creating new opportunities for deepening China-Europe cooperation in related fields. In fact, green development has long been a defining feature of China-EU collaboration. Both sides actively support advancing the low-carbon transition and green growth, sharing broad common interests and significant potential for cooperation in addressing climate change and promoting global climate governance. In the seventh article of the "China-Europe Resonance," we invite experts and scholars from China and the Europe to discuss these topics.

Opportunities and challenges coexist in global green transition

Jia Weilie (vice president of the Beijing Academy of Ecocivilization): At present, the scope of the global green transition has expanded from a focus on emissions reduction commitments to encompass rule-making and the exploration of development pathways. Countries are no longer debating whether to pursue the transition, but rather how to position themselves and seize the initiative amid the ongoing restructuring of global rules.

In the global process of green development, China and Europe occupy different positions and perform differentiated roles, jointly serving as important pillars. The interaction between Europe's strength in rules and China's strength in industry goes beyond simple complementarity; it also contributes to the joint shaping of the global pathway for the green transition.

Chen Xiaojing (research fellow at the Department for European Studies, China Institute of International Studies): Under the UN framework, there is a broad political consensus worldwide in advancing the green transition. Last year, at the COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, an important political document titled "Global Mutirao: Uniting humanity in a global mobilization against climate change" was adopted. In this context, renewable energy and green industries are experiencing robust growth worldwide. 

However, challenges remain evident. For instance, the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are under threat, as global warming is causing significant adverse impacts. In recent years, these effects have intensified, with some 250 million people forced to migrate over the past decade due to climate-related factors. 

Levente Horváth (head of the Hungary-Asia Relations Office at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium and former consul general of Hungary in Shanghai): The global green transition presents both an urgent necessity and a structural challenge. 

In the context of China-Europe relations, climate policy is essentially the only domain where the European Union still treats China as a cooperative partner rather than a systemic rival. Yet even here, the contrast is striking. China has moved rapidly from ambition to execution. In contrast, the EU often appears trapped in a cycle of high-level summits, regulatory debates, and long-term target setting without sufficiently concrete implementation mechanisms. 

This divergence creates both tension and opportunity. 

The EU could learn substantially from China's state-driven, infrastructure-focused approach to green transition. At present, cooperation is already deepening at the member state and corporate levels.

Green is the defining color of China-Europe cooperation

Chen Xiaojing: In the field of green transformation, Europe has long excelled in foundational research on green energy and technologies, serving as a source of many original and cutting-edge innovations. China demonstrates comprehensive advantages, leading globally in key raw material supply, renewable energy capacity and the application of low-carbon technologies.

Meanwhile, institutionally, China-EU cooperation on green development is well established. Mechanisms such as the China-EU High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue and the increasingly green partnership have laid a solid foundation. 

Levente Horváth: "Green" has become a distinctive feature and important area of China-Europe cooperation. Climate remains an area where interests structurally converge. This convergence is not accidental. Both China and the EU have a fundamental stake in maintaining global climate governance frameworks and ensuring the continuation of multilateral cooperation - especially in a context where the US has at times withdrawn from or weakened its engagement. This creates a strategic vacuum that China and Europe could jointly fill.

A sustainable China-Europe green partnership would require the EU to approach China as an equal partner, based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, rather than through a lens of ideological suspicion. Achieving this transformation will allow the role of "green"  in promoting the development of China-EU relations to be more fully demonstrated.

Jia Weilie: The prominence of "green" in China-Europe cooperation is not a temporary policy alignment, but the result of a deeper convergence in development stages, governance philosophies and shared interests. As global climate constraints intensify, both sides have elevated green transition to a central strategic priority, providing a stable foundation for long-term cooperation.

Both China and the EU are key pillars of the multilateral climate system. Amid rising uncertainty, both favor maintaining rule-based cooperation frameworks and advancing practical progress in areas such as finance, technology and capacity building. This relatively stable policy orientation enables China and the EU to play a crucial stabilizing role in the global climate governance landscape. 

The way to further deepen green cooperation

Levente Horváth: Achieving genuine "green synergy" between China and Europe will first and foremost require a conceptual shift on the European side. The EU must move beyond residual imperial and paternalistic reflexes that still shape parts of its external economic thinking and instead adopt a pragmatic, partnership-oriented approach. Hungary offers a useful case study within the EU.

If the EU were to align its strategy with emerging realities - embracing a more balanced and interest-driven approach - China-Europe cooperation could expand significantly, not only in green development but across a range of sectors. Such a shift would not only benefit both sides but could also contribute to a more stable and sustainable Eurasian economic space.

Chen Xiaojing: Looking ahead, China and the Europe can strengthen cooperation at both bilateral and multilateral levels. Bilaterally, efforts can include expanding Chinese green investment in Europe, facilitating technology transfer, and deepening exchanges on environmental and climate governance standards. Both sides can leverage their respective strengths to offer better options for third countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

At the same time, disruptive factors must be addressed. The tendency of some actors within Europe to politicize energy and climate issues risks undermining cooperation. Nevertheless, Europe should remain committed to advancing its green agenda amid an unstoppable global trend toward green development.

Jia Weilie: For China and the EU to achieve a greater degree of "green synergy," the key lies in advancing their cooperation from a project-driven approach toward a more institutionalized and systematic collaboration through stable and forward-looking arrangements amid an increasingly uncertain external environment.

Amid profound adjustments in the international economic order, China and the EU, as the world's two major economies, are both positioned and obligated to play a leading role in the green transition, injecting lasting and strong momentum into equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides.