Top EU leaders meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang this week at a summit in Brussels, but their hopes of winning solid commitments on trade look set for disappointment.
Brussels is trying to beef up its approach to the Asian giant as it shows little willingness to listen to longstanding complaints about industrial subsidies and access to its markets, and as fears grow about growing Chinese involvement in European infrastructure.
But the half-day summit on Tuesday is on course to fizzle out with little to show in terms of agreements, with European sources saying it looks highly unlikely a final joint statement will be agreed.
EU officials say China is unwilling to give binding commitments on their key demands, including the inclusion of industrial subsidies as part of World Trade Organisation reform, and they are reluctant to agree the kind of anodyne declaration of good intentions pushed out after last year's summit in Beijing.
The European Commission last month issued a 10-point plan proposing a more assertive relationship with Beijing, labelling China a "systemic rival" -- a move welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron as a belated awakening.
But while the EU's 15 trillion euro market gives it significant economic clout, it struggles to maintain unity among its 28 members on issues of foreign policy, allowing China to pursue one-on-one deals with individual countries.
"When economic policy intersects with foreign policy and security, the EU lacks the will and capacity to act strategically," Philippe Legrain, visiting senior fellow at the London School of Economics' European Institute, wrote in an analysis for Project Syndicate magazine.
"Apart from France and the UK, which is leaving the EU, member governments lack a geopolitical mindset."
"Xi has already spoken. Xi has already shaken hands with his counterparts so by default the summit has already taken place. In a sense, they only bring out Li for Europe or when something bad is going to happen and somebody needs to take the blame."
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