China-EU summit expected to boost cooperation

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao travels to the Netherlands on Tuesday for the seventh annual summit with the European Union (EU), which is widely expected to breathe new life into the relations and cooperation between the two sides.

According to Chinese diplomats here, China and the European Union will sign several agreements on cooperation in science and technology and customs affairs during the three-day visit by Wen.

The EU, after its expansion on May 1, 2004, has become China's biggest trading partner while China is the EU's second biggest trading partner, immediately after the United States.

Bilateral trade amounted to 135 billion US dollars in 2003, a forty-fold increase since 1978 when China began to open up. In the first 10 months of 2004, bilateral trade reached a record high of over 142 billion dollars, a 34.4 percent growth over the same period last year.

The two trade partners have also enjoyed fast-growing bilateral ties since the annual summit mechanism was launched in 1998.

The EU defined its relationship with China as a strategic partnership in October 2003. In the same month, China released its first ever policy paper on the EU.

"Despite their twists and turns, China-EU relations as a whole have been growing stronger and more mature and are now on the track of a comprehensive and sound development," China's EU paper said.

Bilateral ties are expected to be even stronger as leaders from both sides attach importance to them.

"I am of course very keen to move forward with our important strategic partnership with China, which is rapidly emerging as a global player across the board, and is now, among other things, our second largest trading partner. This is one of our top foreign policy goals in the years to come," former European Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten told the European Parliament on Nov. 16, 2004.

Chronology of China-EU Leaders' Meetings

In a joint declaration issued at the end of the meeting, the two sides agree to establish a long-term and stable constructive partnership and to hold such a meeting once every year.

-- On Dec. 21, 1999, the second China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Beijing, during which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, EU president and Finnish Prime Minister Lipponen and European Commission President Romano Prodi review the ties between China and EU member countries before reaffirming their commitment to developing a lasting and stable constructive partnership by expanding and deepening cooperation.

-- On Oct. 23, 2000, the third China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Beijing, in which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, EU president and French President Jacques Chirac and European Commission President Romano Prodi discuss China's entry into the World Trade Organization, expansion of cooperation in science, energy, information and education, crackdown on illegal immigration and dialogue on human rights and judicial cooperation between the two sides.

-- On Sept. 5, 2001, the fourth China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Brussels, Belgium, in which the talks between Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and EU president and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and European Commission president Romano Prodi focus on furthering political dialogue, expanding economic and trade relations and communication in science and technology, promoting environment protection and energy cooperation, and cooperating in fighting human smuggling and illegal immigration.

-- On Sept. 24, 2002, the fifth China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Copenhagen, Denmark, during which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, EU president and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and European Commission president Romano Prodi stress the need to expand and deepen the Sino-European cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit so that the Sino-European partnership will be brought to a new high.

-- On Oct. 30, 2003, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, EU president and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, European Commission president Romano Prodi attend the sixth China-EU Leaders' Meeting,which is held Beijing. During the meeting, the two sides sign a number of cooperation documents including an agreement on Galileo satellite navigation cooperation and a memorandum of understanding on the EU countries becoming an approved destination for Chinese tourists.