EU-China relations are maturing, and this is allowing a more frank and pragmatic approach to negotiations. The red carpet treatment for Herman Van Rompuy when he visited Beijing recently is testimony to this.

Events in Libya have forced China to bend its cherished principle of non-intervention – not least in order to rescue 35,000 of its citizens from the country. Is this the moment that Beijing steps onto the world stage as a great power?

China's huge currency reserves, and the indebted West's need for them, have created a new game. The object for Europe is to secure investment from Beijing, while also attempting to see through the veil of secrecy to find out exactly where the Chinese are spending their money. 

For Chinese leaders who lived through 1989, events in the Middle East are bringing back worrying memories. But the Arab revolutions could also present an opportunity for Beijing to increase its influence in the region.

The Chinese authorities are watching events in Egypt with concern: faced with an urban protest movement in an economically-growing nation, the Mubarak regime used tactics from Beijing's book, to no avail. But China also has advantages in the race to woo the emerging Arab democracies.