European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson called for further cooperation between Chinese and European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on Thursday, saying it will make both China and the EU stronger.

Mandelson made the remarks in a speech at the opening ceremony of the EU-China Partnership 2006 held on Thursday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

SMEs account for 99 percent of the total number of firms in EU countries and 75 percent of firms in China, and they will play a vital role in future trade between China and European countries, Mandelson said.

He expressed a keen interest in securing greater access to the Chinese market for the EU's financial-service providers and SMEs.

"Our main concern is to keep Europe open to China and China to Europe. That is the way we can all benefit from growing trade opportunities," Mandelson said.

"Those trade opportunities are being created by SMEs, providing jobs for people in both Europe and China. We must increase our advice, our help and our support to SMEs to do more business together," he said.

"We would like to hear encouragement from Chinese leaders to do more in the future," he said.

Europe's trade relationship with China is growing faster than any other bilateral trade relationship in the world, with trade volume doubling over the past five years. The EU is China's largest export market, and China is becoming a large source for European imports.

"China is driving us to compete harder than ever before. But it's also a large and growing market for the things that European firms produce best," Mandelson said.

Globalization and progressive liberalization that we associate with globalization is also a vital engine for creating new jobs as China has demonstrated," Mandelson said.

Wan Jifei, Chairman of China International Trade Promotion Committee, said trade fairs were essential to establishing and developing economic relations between Europe and China.

"SMEs are driving forces in economic development due to their flexibility and creativity," he said, urging firms to strengthen cooperation in the sectors of high-technology, energy and environmental protection.

Chinese companies should attend international trade fairs to meet overseas firms and gain access to international markets, said Giorgio Magistrelli, secretary general of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

Trade fairs are a platform for information exchange and dialogue, and an opportunity for Chinese SMEs to find European partners and enter the European market, he said. The EU-China Partnership 2006 is the largest event in the history of Sino-EU economic cooperation. Over 500 Chinese companies and more than 400 European companies are taking part.

During the two-day event, nearly 1,000 SMEs will hold some 5,000 "speed-dating dialogues" to establish trade links.

The trade fair is jointly sponsored by the European Commission, the China Council for Promotion of International Trade and the Sichuan provincial government. The EU-China Partnership conferences have brought together Chinese and European SMEs since 2002. About 30 percent of the contracts initiated by the conferences have resulted in new commercial ventures.

The China-EU joint economic and trade committee held its 21st session in Beijing two days ago. The two sides reached consensus in eight sectors, including cooperating on IPR protection, encouraging collaboration of small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthening high-level dialogue and settling disputes through talks.

During the session, China and the EU also singed three memos of understanding, aiming to strengthen cooperation in IPR protection and establish a special team to discuss bilateral trade.

Mandelson told Xinhua that both sides are satisfied with the meeting result while reiterating some concerns he raised in the meeting, including market access, investment conditions in telecom and construction design sectors.

Although there are still challenges to face, China has made good progress in opening its markets and fulfilling its WTO obligations since China acceded to the WTO in 2001, Mandelson added.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)