As each other’s biggest trading partners, China and the European Union have typically viewed one another as collaborators on global challenges. But in recent months, China’s relationship with Europe has become more contentious than ever before. Just a few months after agreeing on a new Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), the EU and Beijing traded sanctions and pointed statements. And just last week, the European Parliament voted to freeze ratification of the deal altogether, pressing China to lift its sanctions first. Meanwhile, friction is growing over Chinese policies in Hong Kong and in the South China Sea. There are reams of analysis on Europe’s evolving views of China, but much less on China’s own perspectives on Europe. In the inaugural episode of China Global, Bonnie Glaser is joined by Professor Lanxin Xiang to discuss Europe through China’s eyes, and where the relationship could be headed. Xiang is the Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and he directs the Center of One Belt and One Road Studies at the China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation.