China is keeping a close eye on Europe as it is set to become the EU's biggest trade partner once 10 new countries join the bloc on May 1.
Even though the ordinary Chinese knows little about EU enlargement, the consequences will definitely be felt beyond the Great Wall.
The government in Beijing hopes a stronger Europe can counterbalance the US superpower.
"We would like to see a bigger and more constructive European role in promoting peace, stability and development in the world," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said.
A confident Europe plays an important role in China's concept of a multilateral world which resists the policy of US supremacy.
The EU and China are already working on a "comprehensive strategic partnership" and contacts are intensifying this year, the year of expansion.
Li Zhaoxing speaks of Europe's "China Year," which does not go far enough for Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.
"I hope every year is a China Year for Europe," Solana says.
Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, Solana and EU parliamentarians were in Beijing during the middle of March and Commission President Romano Prodi and seven other EU commissioners are expected in China over this year.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will travel to Brussels and Berlin in May. A new Sino-European summit is planned for the second half next year.
China hopes for a "political signal" by a lifting of the European arms embargo imposed after the bloody suppression of the democracy movement in 1989.
Li Zhaoxing calls it a "relic of the cold war" -- without addressing its origin or the underlying human rights questions.
Germany and France, in particular, support an end to sanctions, but other EU members would first like to see improved human rights in the country.
China's exporters view the EU's eastward expansion like a two-sided coin, the communist mouthpiece People's Daily wrote.
Customs duties in the new EU countries will decrease by on average from 9 percent to 4 percent, but other exports to new members will come under existing EU quotas.
China will increasingly become the target of anti-dumping measures and will have to pay fines. Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai is already demanding compensation and asks for the status of a full market economy which would give protection against anti-dumping charges.
The EU is still studying the request. As for compensation, the EU wants to wait and see how benefits and disadvantages for China balance out. Trade volume exceeded the US$100 billion mark for the first time last year.
Chinese newspapers report such complicated trade measures in detail and also the consequences of enlargement. But a 52-year-old cleaning lady can only shake her head: "No. I'm not aware of it. We simple people know nothing about it."
A driver nearby says he has "no idea" either.
But a 33-year-old secretary says: "One of the trends of globalization is more countries forming associations."
Clever Chinese are already trying to figure out which new EU country will issue visas with a minimum of fuss and from where they can travel to a country of their choice.
But the 10 new EU countries do not yet belong to the so-called Schengen agreement, whose members have abolished controls on their borders, allowing unrestricted for travel.
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