We are finally waking up. The possibility that China’s technological advances, its low production costs and the scale of its state aid might undermine cutting-edge sectors of European industry—and not just manufacturing with no strategic value—is setting alarm bells ringing across the Union.

The debate now centres on the nature of the measures to be taken, rather than their necessity; yet it is not enough simply to open our eyes and defend ourselves. We must shift from the defensive to the offensive, no longer thinking solely of protecting ourselves from Chinese overproduction, but imposing a balance of power on Beijing that compels it to negotiate and review its policies.

This will not be without risks. In the battle that is about to begin, the Chinese will resort to the retaliatory measures with which they are already threatening us, but we, for our part, have two key assets.

The first is our size. The EU is not the most populous bloc in the world. Nor is it the largest in terms of area, but with our 450 million inhabitants – and soon many more – our purchasing power and our savings rates, we constitute a market that China (no more than the United States, for that matter) simply cannot do without. If China’s access to the European market were to be even partially restricted, Chinese industry would struggle to find other outlets that are as profitable.

This puts us in a position to demand a comprehensive renegotiation of our trade relations. Provided only that there is no doubt about our determination and unity, we can stand our ground, for the Chinese are compelled to reach a compromise that is even more necessary for their economy than for ours.

And then there is Africa. It will have a population of two and a half billion by 2050. Like Asia in the last century, it is the emerging power of this century, and it is there first and foremost – from the Maghreb to South Africa, from Senegal to Kenya – that our power struggle with China will be played out.

Either we allow Chinese industry to gain such a foothold in Africa that we will soon no longer have the means to counter it, not even in Europe, or we oppose China’s industrial colonialism with a Euro-African front.

Either we allow Chinese industry to continue treating Africa as its private preserve and securing dominant positions in every sector, or we offer Africa a win-win co-development model through industrial partnerships in both mass production and key sectors.

The Mediterranean is not a sea. It is a lake whose shores are perfectly complementary. To the south, Africa needs investment to develop its industry, reduce unemployment by providing work for a youth that currently has no choice but to head for Europe, increase its tax revenue, build the infrastructure it lacks, and slow down and then halt the brain drain.

In the north, Europe needs to find a cheaper labour force than its own somewhere other than China, to find real ways to stem the political crisis into which illegal immigration is plunging it, and to secure new outlets for its capital and exports in order to strengthen its industries in the face of those of China.

The future of Europe lies in Africa, just as the future of Africa lies in Europe.

French, English and Portuguese: we share common languages. There are numerous African diasporas in Europe, and these could quickly become a natural bond between our continents. The financial and environmental costs of transport between Africa and Europe are infinitely lower than between Europe and Asia. And then geography tells us this: united rather than divided by the Mediterranean, Africa and Europe will form a continuous whole, the beating heart of the world and, if we so choose, the leading economic power of tomorrow.

Image: European Union