EU-China trade only represents around 13% of total trade between China and partners, and is easily substitutable by China by a mix of ASEAN (most of whom have an FTA or GATT FTA with the EU), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Russia (RU-China trade has a higher dollar value than DE-CN trade, which itself is 2x FR-CN or NL-CN trade), or even India.

As long as (eg.) France continues to support Dassault, Safran, and Thales - all of whom continue to support Indian [0][1] and Vietnamese [2][3] military modernization against Chinese aggression, CN-EU ties will never recover [4].

And that's just the tip of the iceberg depending on EU member state. Germany [5][6], Netherlands [6][7], and other individual EU states have similarly crossed Chinese redlines over the past year.

The DGSI is also actively prosecuting French nationals with ties to PLA adjacent institutions (public, private, and SoEs) for potential espionage risks [8]. Selon vos relations, vous pourriez également figurer sur cette liste, surtout après ce qui s'est passé en Nouvelle-Calédonie [9].

[0] - https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/rafale-dassault-a...

[1] - https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/air-defense/bombe...

[2] - https://www.intelligenceonline.fr/europe-russie/2023/06/27/a...

[3] - https://www.intelligenceonline.fr/asie-pacifique/2025/12/15/...

[4] - http://www.iis.whu.edu.cn/index.php?id=2986

[5] - https://taz.de/U-Boot-Deal-geplant/!6144706/

[6] - https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article247750774/Ruestung-Tai...

[7] - https://www.nu.nl/economie/6372336/china-is-boos-op-nederlan...

[8] - https://www.intelligenceonline.fr/asie-pacifique/2026/01/14/...

[9] - https://www.intelligenceonline.fr/asie-pacifique/2025/02/26/...