Commentary: Deepened China-EU cooperation benefits global economy

The cooperation between China and the European Union (EU), which has gone through an impressive development, can offer the powerful thrust the world's economy needs at present as major economies are undergoing a slow and painful recovery.

As this year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the EU, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting later this month in Brussels, the first since the change of EU leadership.

Besides this visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping's landmark visit to the EU headquarters in Belgium and other European countries in March 2014 highlighted the frequent exchange of high-level visits between China and the EU.

Leaders from both sides have attached great importance to bilateral relations. Obviously, one of the most striking achievements in China-EU cooperation is the enormous success in economy and trade.

According to recent figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the value of EU imports of goods from China reached a peak of 338.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

While China was the second largest EU trading partner behind the United States, accounting for 14 percent of the total extra-EU trade in goods in 2014, the EU has been China's largest trading partner for more than 10 years.

As bilateral trade has boomed continuously, cooperation in new technologies, environmental protection, people-to-people exchanges and other fields has also been vigorously promoted by China and the EU.

Millions of mutual visits are made by Chinese and Europeans every year. Earlier this month, Belgium, Germany and Britain adapted new measures to make it easier for Chinese nationals to get their visas.

Moreover, China and the EU, which share common interests in pursuing development, are now eyeing the possibility of integrating their economy promotion plans: the EU's Juncker Investment Plan and China's "Li Plan."

The Juncker Investment Plan, named after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is meant to unlock investment from the private sector by guaranteeing part of the investment with money from the EU budget and the European Investment Bank.

The plan aims to raise a fund of 352 billion dollars, which will be spent on infrastructure projects that will kickstart the EU's economy.

China's "Li Plan," on the other hand, is the Chinese premier's vision of international cooperation on production capacity.

The complementarity of the two plans is distinctly recognizable: China needs markets to release its surplus production capacity and the EU needs investment, especially in infrastructure, to jumpstart its sluggish economy.

Now both China and the EU are facing new challenges. While China is trying to adapt to the "New Normal," the EU's economy is stuck in a slow recovery as Greece may still default on its sovereign debt and leave the eurozone.

Years of close cooperation between China and the EU have brought tremendous benefits to both and have made them indispensable partners.

Considering the contributions China and the EU have made in global economic growth, close cooperation between them will certainly boost the global economy. Endi