Reference News Network, December 19 report: The French newspaper Les Echos website published an article titled "The Unexpected Synergy Between the West and China" on December 14. The author is François Mique-Martel, president of France's New Era Group. The article is translated as follows:
The new U.S. National Security Strategy released on December 4 abandoned the policy of encouraging American companies to invest in and outsource production to China that has been followed for more than three decades. Tariffs have once again become a tool for implementing a policy of market closure. This approach by the West confirms the prediction made by Jeremie Gai, a scholar at Paris Graduate School of Business, in his book "Sino-U.S. Decoupling: Our New Reality?" This white paper was published by the American Chamber of Commerce in France in 2021 and provides a profound analysis of the phenomenon of "decoupling."
However, another reality regarding economic relations between companies is more noteworthy. This reality often contradicts common intuition and far from being a global disengagement. The number of new alliances or recently deepened partnerships between Western and Chinese companies in 2025 has significantly increased.
American artificial intelligence chip giant NVIDIA has maintained cooperation with Chinese companies BYD and Alibaba. This company, which has become a new benchmark in American technology, continues to maintain business relationships with leading Chinese enterprises.
Uber, an American company, has reached a strategic partnership with Baidu, focusing on the autonomous taxi field; British GlaxoSmithKline has joined forces with Chinese company Hengrui Pharmaceutical to develop new therapies; and British AstraZeneca announced an investment of 2.5 billion U.S. dollars to establish a global R&D center in Beijing.
German Siemens recently signed an agreement with Shanghai Electric, focusing on smart grid construction; German Bosch Group has opened two new core component factories for new energy vehicles in China; and German Volkswagen, through its joint venture with China FAW, has expanded its cooperation, continuously strengthening its business in China.
French Renault has deepened its collaboration with Chinese Geely in the Brazilian market through shareholding increases and the production of the Geely EX2 model; French Schneider Electric and Dassault Systèmes are strengthening their innovation centers in China; Stellantis Group will jointly conduct tests of autonomous taxis with Chinese Pony.ai; Airbus is also deepening its industrial integration with China.
Therefore, the new economic relationship between the West and China is more complex than commonly believed. At present, many foreign enterprise groups are strengthening their relationships with China.
In terms of deepening cooperation, there are three strategies of "leverage with the trend."
The first strategy can be called the follow-the-trend leverage: the scale of China's economy has become so large that companies around the world want to take a share of it.
The second is defensive leverage with the trend: facing China's growing strength, it is better to form an alliance rather than fight alone, combining the advantages of the West and China.
The third is collaborative innovation leveraging the trend: preparing for the future world, especially in the fields of artificial intelligence and green technology.
This development trend that contradicts common sense is very interesting because it may signal the emergence of a new model. This model is neither the "end of history" as Francis Fukuyama said, nor a globally open market, nor a closed empire, but a hybrid model: it has protectionist tendencies and the intertwined interests of Western and Chinese companies. (Translated by Wang Zhongju)
Original source: toutiao.com/article/7585444992685015595/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.