Trade between the EU and China account for almost 30% of global trade and 35% of global GDP, but the balance and structure of their trade relationship has changed in recent years. As China’s exports moved up the value chain, the goods it sent to Europe started competing with products already manufactured in Europe, creating tension. However, it’s difficult for the EU to confront and change its economic relationship with China since individual European nations feel trade frictions differently and economic relations with the United States are also under pressure. How will the EU move forward with China and the United States?
Agatha Kratz joined us on August 20, 2026 to share how the EU-China trade relationship is evolving and where it’s headed.
Agatha Kratz
Agatha Kratz is a Partner at Rhodium Group, leading the firm’s corporate advisory work. She also leads its research on European Union-China relations and supply chain diversification in an era of intensifying geopolitics. She also contributes to Rhodium’s work on China’s global trade and investment, and industrial and technology policy.
Agatha holds a Ph.D. from King’s College London, on China’s railway diplomacy. Her previous positions include Associate Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and Editor-in-Chief of its quarterly journal China Analysis, Assistant Editor for Gavekal-Dragonomics’ China Economic Quarterly, and Junior Fellow at Asia Centre in Paris.