J. East China Norm. Univ. Philos. Soc. Sci ›› 2026, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (1): 166-178.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.01.015

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On the Driving Path of China-EU Third-party Market Cooperation for Green and Low-carbon Development: Based on the Perspective of Jointly Building “the Belt and Road” with High Quality

Shiteng Xu, Xinyi Sun, Youzhi Chen   

  • Accepted:2025-12-24 Online:2026-01-15 Published:2026-02-02

Abstract:

The third-party market cooperation between China and the EU in the green and low-carbon field has emerged as a new model of international collaboration on jointly building the “the Belt and Road”. Based on 45 cooperation project cases, this study employs a combined approach of Necessity Condition Analysis (NCA) and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) within the theoretical framework of “Third-Party Market Investment Environment— Project Heterogeneity— China-EU Green Cooperation Potential.” It explores the core conditions and diverse configuration pathways for promoting efficient China-EU third-party market cooperation for green and low-carbon development. The findings reveal that the effectiveness of China-EU third-party market cooperation projects for green and low-carbon development stems from the interaction of multiple factors, including project financing support, host country institutional environment, its historical and cultural connections with Europe, government guidance, and the potential for China-EU green cooperation. Among them, project financing support is identified as the core necessary condition. Besides, there are multiple efficient configuration paths for China-EU third-party market cooperation for green and low-carbon development, including “technology synergy- institutional guarantee type”, “government coordination- historical link type”, “government coordination- technology empowerment type” and “market drive- green trade linkage type”. These conclusions would provide inspiration for the quality improvement and upgrading of China-EU third-party market cooperation for green and low-carbon development.

Key words: green and low- carbon, China-EU cooperation, third-party market cooperation, necessary condition analysis, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis