This is a much more eloquent explanation, and I am saving this for the future. This is exactly what I meant.
Except EU is already too weak to force China to do anything, and by moving carbon-intensive production outside Europe they would be giving China even more leverage...
The problem is that China trivially buys off a single member state to nix things like this from happening, as the EU must agree unanimously on these matters.
That recently changed: https://www.dw.com/en/asia-pacific-nations-sign-worlds-bigge...
> China is highly dependent on the EU and the US for trade
This is double-edged sword - EU and US are dependent on the imported goods. if the trade between China and the rest of the world stopped China would end up with abundance, and EU would be in serious trouble, not being able to buy basic things they need. Always better to have some real stuff than virtual money.
Both of those are by population and not by GDP.
GDP measures buying/negotiating power. ASEAN is _tiny_.
The US is still top of the heap.
That was my point - that China can just focus on trading with other Asian countries and be well. Especially if they someday manage to add India ($2.7T) to the mix.
The fact that this plugs one hole in the sinking ship and not two is hardly evidence that it's crap.