The EU is the largest regional integration organization in the contemporary world economy, and its integration process has had a significant impact on the world. No country or region must consider the impact of this integration policy and results when formulating foreign policies (Wang He

, 1999; Guan Xinping, He Zhiping, 2003).

1. The European Union and Asia In the concept of the European Union, Asia includes what we usually call Asia and the Pacific.

According to EU statistics, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 56% of the world's population, 25% of the world's GDP, and 22% of the world's total international trade.

This region is also the birthplace of several major religions and has rich cultural heritage. Therefore, Asia is an important partner of the EU in the economic, political and cultural fields.

The economic and trade relations between the EU and Asia are extremely important to Europe's own development and prosperity.

Asia as a whole accounts for 21% of the EU's total external exports and is the EU's third largest trading partner region.

Asia accounts for a large share of the EU's total foreign investment. Some Asian countries are important investors in the EU. In the World Trade Organization (WTO), Asian countries play an extremely important role. China's accession to the WTO further strengthens the

Asia's strength.

2. The cooperative relationship between the EU and China began in 1985. The "1985 European Community-China Trade Cooperation Agreement" signed that year is the legal document establishing a trade partnership between the EU and China.

The EU-China Joint Committee established under this agreement conducts an annual review of China-Europe trade cooperation relations.

In 1995, the European Commission proposed a long-term strategy for the relationship between the EU and China, called the "Long-term Policy for China-EU Relations."

In 1998, the European Commission adopted a position paper entitled "Establishing a Comprehensive Partnership with China".

In 2000, the European Commission adopted the implementation report of this opinion.

This report stipulates areas of cooperation between the EU and China, as well as dialogue with China.

The report also highlights the results of the dialogue between the EU and China in various fields such as regional security, economy, trade and politics.

In the past 20 years, China's economic development has advanced by leaps and bounds, which has played a huge role in promoting the trade relations between the EU and China.

Since China implemented economic reforms in 1978, bilateral trade has increased more than 20 times, reaching US$70 billion in 1999.

The EU went from a trade surplus in the early 1980s to a trade deficit of US$1 billion in 2000.

China is the EU's third largest non-European trading partner, after the United States and Japan.

Over the past five years, the EU has been the largest foreign direct investor in mainland China, excluding Hong Kong.

If European companies' investment in China continues to develop at such a high rate, European investment in China will be comparable to that of the United States and Japan in the near future.

3. The European Union and Japan and the United States Before the EU proposed the establishment of a unified market, Japan had always focused on the United States over Europe. However, since the 1990s, Japan has focused its efforts on the development of Japan-EU relations as a priority for the EU to establish a unified market.

Regarding the EU single market, Japan has adopted a strategy of careful study and active intervention.

Since the late 1980s, all walks of life in Japan have established research institutions on the EU and strengthened investigation and analysis of the EU single market.

In terms of Japan-EU trade relations, Japan has maintained a long-term surplus. Japan is more dependent on the EU market than the EU. The EU market is extremely important to Japan. This imbalance has caused uneasiness in the EU and has become the fuse of the Japan-EU trade war. However,

The Japan-EU trade war mainly focuses on automobiles and electrical appliances.

After the end of the Cold War, Europe faced complex challenges and unprecedented opportunities in reconstruction and reorganization. European integration and its relationship with the United States have experienced extensive and profound changes and adjustments.

On the one hand, the end of the Cold War has fundamentally changed the political and security environment in Europe, and Western Europe's dependence on the United States has dropped significantly.

On the other hand, the growth of the economic power of Western European countries and the in-depth development of the European integration process have enhanced Europe's ability and self-confidence to handle affairs independently relying on the European Union.

However, due to the serious gap in military strength between the United States and Europe, Europe has no confidence in its strategic independence. Moreover, Europe still needs the United States as a partner economically.

For the United States, on the one hand, it is unwilling and unable to lead Europe's security system as it did before the Cold War. On the other hand, it is unwilling to end its military power in Europe and lose control of Europe's politics and economy.

The two therefore reached a compromise that would create a European security and defense identity within NATO.

No matter what adjustments are made to the political and military structures, the main aspect of US-EU relations remains cooperation and coordination.

In addition to the fact that both sides still share the same strategic security interests and the same liberal democratic traditions and values, Europe and the United States are important economic and trade partners.

Long-term economic and trade relations have made their economic ties very close and they are highly interdependent.

Compared with other regions and countries, there are fewer trade barriers between Europe and the United States, the quality of economic ties is high, economic regulations tend to be consistent, and there is a lot of room for coordination.

Although the trade volume of the Asia-Pacific region in the United States currently exceeds that of Europe, there is a huge trade deficit between the United States and the Asia-Pacific region, while the United States has a large surplus in Europe.