The EU is now China's biggest trading partner. European companies are ploughing billions of euro into the booming Chinese market. The EU offers Beijing help in areas such as fighting pollution and writing better laws. Both China and the EU back a strong United Nations and they are wary of US hegemony. But there are also profound differences, which - unless addressed - could hold back plans to build a 'strategic partnership'. China's policies on human rights, regional security, climate change, weapons proliferation and illegal migrants will move up the bilateral agenda.

Katinka Barysch is the chief economist, Charles Grant is the director and Mark Leonard is director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform.