This document is the complete proceedings of the international conference “In Search of Common Ground: China-EU Economic Relations in Times of Global Disorder,” held at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China, on 29–30 May 2026. It aims to provide a comprehensive record and overview of the core issues and cutting-edge views in current China-EU bilateral interactions.

The document is detailed and substantive. Its English section presents, in their original form, the in-depth discussions of the seven thematic panels, while the Chinese section contains the corresponding Chinese translations. The seven panels are:

Panel 1: The historical, cultural and geo-political dimensions of the China/EU relations

Panel 2: The economic drivers of the China/EU relations

Panel 3: Access to and trade in critical minerals

Panel 4: Competition and trade in advanced technology products

Panel 5: Industrial subsidies and policy of China and the EU

Panel 6: Digital trade between the EU and China

Panel 7: China/EU efforts and cooperation to salvage the multilateral trading system

The conference was jointly organized by SHAN Wenhua, Senior Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences and Dean of the School of Law at Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Peter Van den Bossche, Chair Professor of International Economic Law at the School of Law, Xi’an Jiaotong University. It was co-hosted by the Institute for the Belt & Road Initiative and International Legal Studies and the School of Law of Xi’an Jiaotong University. Focusing on consensus and disagreements in the fields of China-EU trade and investment, the conference adopted a hybrid format combining in-person and online participation. It explored in depth the opportunities and challenges facing current economic and trade cooperation, with particular emphasis on in-depth discussion and academic debate on feasible paths for resolving disagreements and mitigating tensions.

As a high-level record of academic and policy discussions, this document not only objectively reflects the complex interactions between China and the EU in such areas as economic and trade relations, science and technology, and multilateral governance, but also provides highly valuable first-hand reference material for academic research, policymaking and think-tank analysis in related fields.