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Chinese ambassador to EU praises bilateral ties ahead of premier's visit

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Chinese Ambassador to the European Union Yang Yanyi on Friday praised China-EU relations, saying they have progressed immensely since diplomatic ties were established 40 years ago.

Speaking two days ahead of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the EU for a high-level summit, Yang said: "In 40 years time, our interdependence has reached an unprecedented level."

Yang told a meeting convened by the European Policy Center that bilateral trade expanded from 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in 1975 to 615 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

She added that every single day, the two sides trade more than 1 billion euros (around 1.12 billion U.S. dollars) and some 16,000 passengers travel between China and EU countries on over 70 flights.

"The China-EU relationship has become one of the most important and dynamic bilateral relationships in the world today," the ambassador said.

Premier Li is scheduled to attend the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting in Brussels on Sunday and Monday, the first since the sitting EU leadership took office.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Li will meet with President of the European Council Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.

The ministry said Li will also address the opening ceremony of a China-EU business summit, and attend a forum on China-EU urbanization partnership.

The premier "looks forward to having in-depth exchange of views on China-EU relations and regional and international issues of mutual interest and charting the course for the future," Yang said.

On the agenda, the two sides are expected to exchange views on developing synergies between China's One Belt One Road initiative and Juncker's investment plan, boosting investment and improving market access on a reciprocal basis.

Legal affairs, people-to-people exchange, climate change and global issues are also on the agenda.

"China and EU are mutually reinforcing global partners and not mutually excluding competitors," Yang said. "The overall trend will be one of coordination and cooperation, of friendship and partnership and of common development and win-win." Endit