According to a top official, the US and EU positions on China are convergent.

According to Stefano Sannino, secretary-general of the EU's foreign policy arm, the EU and US positions on China have converged, owing in part to Beijing's growing assertiveness and burgeoning partnership with Russia.

Why it is significant: In 2019, the EU designated Beijing as a "systemic rival," but European leaders have been slower than their American counterparts in shifting their focus away from economic opportunities and toward security concerns. Today, however, Sannino claims that Brussels and Washington have reached a consensus on the challenges posed by China, albeit not always on how to address them.One factor driving the news has been China's "new friendship" with Russia, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine, according to Sannino.

"We have a different world in front of us than we did a year ago," Sannino said. "We don't have all of the elements of the new equation, but it's something that is changing the landscape in some way."
The China-Russia nexus was a primary focus of the fourth high-level US-EU Dialogue on China, which Sannino led alongside Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Thursday and Friday.Flashback: According to Sannino, the EU's focus in dealing with China for years has been to maintain a level playing field for European companies.

"Now it has become much broader," Sannino said, owing in part to the growing assertiveness of Chinese leaders who have made it clear that they want to reshape the world order to suit their interests.
In areas ranging from rare-earth minerals to 5G infrastructure, the EU is attempting to reduce its reliance on China. Following last week's talks, the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement expressing concern about China's human rights violbhjh ations, "provocations" toward Taiwan, and "economic coercion."Nonetheless, Sannino stated after last week's talks that the United States and the European Union are increasingly speaking the same language when it comes to China, and that "there was no kind of pressure to take a specific decision, to say yes or no, with us or not with us."

However, the US is reportedly pressuring the Netherlands — home to ASML, the world's leading producer of chipmaking tools — to comply with its export restrictionsrestrictions.Sannino spoke to Axios shortly after European Council President Charles Michel met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany recently visited Beijing, and French President Emmanuel Macron plans to visit early next year.

Scholz faced harsh criticism at home for travelling to Beijing with a delegation of business leaders, highlighting the growing scepticism toward an economy-first approach to China.
However, EU-China trade reached a record high last year and is becoming increasingly important as Europe faces severe economic headwinds.
On the other hand, Xi has urged the EU to view China "independently," rather than simply following US policy.The bottom line is that "the point here is not to isolate China," Sannino told Axios. "Not to be nasty, but not to be naive," he says, Brussels must strike the right
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