China-EU Relations

EU envoy: China, EU forging reliable partnership

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-01 07:41

BEIJING -- China and the European Union (EU) are forging a reliable partnership as one's stability, growth and prosperity are in the interests of the other, said an EU envoy on Thursday.

Serge Abou, EU Ambassador to China, made the remarks before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attends the eighth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM8) and the 13th China-EU summit from October 4 to 6. The ASEM summit, under the theme "Quality of Life: Achieving Greater Well-being and More Dignity for all Citizens," will focus on global finance and economic governance, sustainable development, and social and cultural exchange between Asia and Europe.

China, as the second largest economy in the world, plays an important role in the meetings, Abou said, adding that the growth of Chinese economy contributed much to the world, especially amid the financial crisis.

Abou described the relationship between China and the EU as "maturing partnership," with trade as "the first taproot" of the ties.

The 27-member EU is China's biggest trade partner while China is the EU's second-largest trade partner and most important source of imports. This year, China-EU trade has witnessed remarkable growth and bilateral trade volume exceeded 300 billion U.S. dollars for the first eight months, up 36.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

However, Abou was not satisfied with the figures. Trade and investment are not big enough considering China's 1.3-billion population, said the ambassador. He looks forward to more cooperation between the two countries in agriculture among other sectors.

"We welcome Chinese rise and Chinese prosperity," said Abou, adding that the EU would like to be more "engaged" in China's growth.

Besides, China and the EU are also cooperating in energy, climate change and higher education, said the envoy.

There are 200,000 Chinese students in Europe and tourists to European countries are also increasing, he added.

"The Chinese language is the second foreign language studied in my country France in secondary schools, just after English," said the EU official, adding that, by contrast, it was very "exotic" to learn Chinese when he was young.

"That means we have a solid basis to deepen our relationship," he added.