The EU-China Investment Agreement’s Influence on Ukraine
The relations with China are determined for Ukraine, first of all, by the need to choose its strategic partner. When choosing between existential enemies, as the two greatest geopolitical powers in the world, the United States and China, Ukraine must remember that giving preference to one of them will inevitably provoke a negative reaction from the opposite side. If Ukraine has decided that its strategic partner will be the United States, then the negative tensions in relations with China will add to our problems in the international arena.
This means, in particular, stopping the prospects of China’s strategic initiative “Belt and Road”, which could run through Ukraine, or problems with the privatization of “Motor Sich” and, in fact, cooperation with the United States and so on. On the other hand, China provides effective assistance to Ukraine in overcoming the effects of the pandemic by supplying medical equipment and vaccines, traditionally developing cooperation in the political, economic, cultural spheres, etc. At the same time, there are many negative circumstances in relations with China, which are not mentioned at the moment, given Ukraine’s economic and political dependence.
At this, the investment agreement between the EU and China will not have a direct impact on Ukraine, the Association of Ukrainian-Chinese Cooperation said in February this year. If it enters into force, domestic financial and industrial companies with assets of European jurisdiction may take advantage of new investment opportunities. This means investing in China, which is now difficult to do directly from Ukraine and involves high risks. As the potential direct impact on Ukraine of the investment agreement between the EU and China is not expected, the European experience gained in the process of its development is extremely valuable for Kyiv. If only official Kyiv expressed a desire to get acquainted with such experience, and Brussels were ready to share it.
The article is available in Ukrainian
