Wu Hailong, China's ambassador to the EU, said Beijing and Brussels have "unprecedented necessity and urgency" to accelerate cooperation and tackle global challenges amid the new international situation.

Wu said that visiting Vice-Premier Li Keqiang is scheduled to exchange ideas and beef up global cooperation when he meets leaders of the European Union.

"Vice-Premier Li will push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU during his visit ... urbanization and energy cooperation will bring more opportunities for both sides," Wu said.

Wu urged the two sides to respect each other and boost political trust as they have different histories and cultures, various social systems and stages of development.

"The two sides should go beyond differences of political ideologies and values, and respect and understand each other's development model," said Wu.

Wu said the two sides should also devote enough energy and time to matching China's 12th Five-Year Plan and the EU 2020 strategy, exploring cooperation opportunities in renewable energy, urbanization, science and technology sector.

"We need to find the real opportunities to realize win-win situations and sustainable development," said Wu.

Based on political, economic and trade cooperation, Wu said China and the European Union should accelerate the pace of people-to-people exchanges and make people on both sides increase mutual understanding and recognition.

"We should work toward fostering EU-China friendship for generations," said Wu.

Wu said China and the EU should work toward building an open and inclusive international system and strengthen cooperation and communication on international financial system reform, global governance, climate change, energy security and grain security.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn