Ireland signals deep commitment to strong diplomatic ties with China

The bilateral economic relationship between China and Ireland which was worth around €45 billion in two-way trade in 2022, as Joe Dermody reports

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi  meeting An Tánaiste Micheal Martin, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Ireland, in Beijing. During the talk, he expressed the hope that Ireland will continue to play a constructive role in promoting China-EU ties.

Cultural and trade relations between China and Ireland have been growing steadily in recent years, supported in no small way by strong diplomatic ties between the two states.

The value of that trade has grown exponentially, particularly when viewed over decades. In 2022, the bilateral economic relationship which was worth around €45 billion in two-way trade.

Ireland has consistently benefitted from this strong trade relationship. For instance, Ireland’s exports to China were valued at around $68 million in 1995. By 2022, that figure had risen to $16.7 billion. In 2022, China exported $8.11bn worth of goods to Ireland.

On a six-day diplomatic visit to China in March, Ireland’s Finance Minister, Michael McGrath, said that Ireland would continue to support a continuation of the strong trade relations with China.

Minister McGrath’s visit had been preceded by some EU-China tension, itself a sideshoot of US-China tensions.

China had criticised the European Union’s stated policy of “de-risking” in its trade relations with China, coupled with the EU’s investigations into China’s subsidies for its electric vehicle industry as protectionist measures.

The backdrop to this has been increasingly tense trade relations between the US and China, notably around efforts by both states to minimise the use and importation of technologies created within each other’s jurisdictions.

Intel is a US corporation with a significant presence in China. Intel finds itself in a bind as Washington is seeking to reduce exports of US technology to China, while China for its part is also becoming increasing wary of western technology imports. Intel employs about 5,000 people in Leixlip.

Ireland is also home to a number of leading Chinese companies, collectively employing around 5,000 people in Ireland. These include social media platform TikTok (employing 3,000 people here), medical products and research company Wuxi and smart devices developer Huawei.

Meanwhile, Ireland has been striving to maintain its good relations with the EU, the US and China. That was clearly the theme for Finance Minister Michael McGrath’s visit to China.

Minister McGrath said that Ireland’s approach would continue to be informed by the benefits of international trade between the two States, while Ireland would remain aligned with the broader EU position on trade. He finished his visits to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai with a 90-minute meeting with Chinese Finance Minister Lan Foan.

Minister McGrath said: “I would have reaffirmed to the minister that Ireland will be an advocate for continued engagement and dialogue between the EU and China to see if solutions can be found to some of the issues that have led to tension, because trade is so important to us and that we will continue to use our voice in favour of continued dialogue and engagement between the EU and China with a view to finding solutions.

“The Irish position is we support international trade, but we do believe that there is a need for the EU to ensure its own economy is resilient and that we can be independent in the manufacture of critical products and that we can ensure we are sustainable into the future.

“So I think it is about achieving an appropriate balance. The terms of trade have to be fair in both directions, and we are in an environment now where there is considerable uncertainty and geopolitical tension.

“But Ireland is a country that has benefited enormously from globalisation and from trade barriers coming down. And so it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that we will continue to advocate for multilateralism and for engagement on trade issues with a view to minimising barriers.”

In January, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Ireland. Ireland’s then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, met the Chinese Premier for a bilateral meeting and a working lunch at Farmleigh House, discussing global issues, bilateral issues and EU-China relations.

At the time, Mr Varadkar said: “Premier Li’s visit comes in a year in which we are marking 45 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries. China is one of the world’s great powers politically and economically and I am glad that Premier Li has decided to include Ireland in his itinerary.

“China is an important economic partner, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and has a huge role to play in overcoming the shared challenges the world faces, including working for peace and security in the world and ensuring we stop climate change.

“Under our Asia-Pacific Strategy, the government is also committed to growing our bilateral political, economic and people to people relationships throughout the region, including with China.”

In recent years, Ireland’s Tánaiste Micheál Martin has also played a leading role in fostering ties between the two countries. In November 2023, Minister Martin spent four days in China, centred on a series of political meetings, speeches at universities and briefings with Chinese state agencies.

Speaking at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Minister Martin said: “My European colleague, Vice-President Commissioner Dombrovskis recently said that the EU and China need to co-operate, that we need to work on our relationship, and that we need to choose a path to a mutually beneficial engagement. And I fully agree with this.

“In the EU and China, we are each other’s largest trading partners, exchanging €2.3 billion of goods and services a day. A constructive partnership with China on global challenges is a necessity.

“Whether on global health, on climate change, or on the delivery of the sustainable development goals, China is a key interlocutor.”