Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivers an important speech at the China-EU industrial and commercial summit in The Hague, on Dec. 9, 2004.

Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday called for a strengthening of all-round cooperation and a deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership with the European Union (EU).

"The new type of relations between us will deliver greater benefits to both sides, but they also need our common nurturing," Wen said at the China-EU business summit.

This requires that both sides constantly promote an all-round, wide-ranging and multi-level cooperation, making it long-term and stable, he said.

"China and the EU will stay in perpetual amity and common development with political trust, economic complementarity, cultural interactions and people-to-people exchanges," said Wen.

Premier Wen expressed his satisfaction to the current China-EU relations, saying "the relations have never been as dynamic and fruitful as they are today."

Today, he said, the enlarged EU has become China's largest trading partner while China is the second largest trading partner to the EU.

Early this year, China and the EU signed an agreement on approved destination status (ADS), facilitating people-to-people exchanges, the Chinese premier said.

"All this shows that China-EU cooperation is wider in scope and better in content and the relationship has come into a new phase of maturity and sound and steady development," said Wen.

The Premier noted that China-EU relations are solidly based for further development as the two sides share interests in wide areas and there are no conflicts of fundamental interest between them.

The two sides see eye to eye on a large number of major international issues and are highly complementary economically, he said.

"China-EU cooperation, based on shared interest, is most solid and enduring," he added.

In his speech, the Chinese Premier urged the EU to recognize China's full market economy status at an early date, saying that it is a logical requirement of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. He also urged the EU to lift restrictions on the export of high-tech products and weapons to China.

Wen also briefed the summit on China's political, economic and social development.

He refuted the allegation that the development of the "China giant" will pose a threat to other countries, saying that China's development has only brought and will continue to bring tangible benefits to the rest of the world.

At the end of his speech, Wen called for EU business leaders to take a long-term view, seize the opportunities and make fresh contribution to closer China-EU relations while seeking their own business success.

The Chinese Premier arrived here on Tuesday to attend the annul China-EU summit and will return to Beijing Thursday afternoon.