Sino-EU talks set to take relationship to 'new high'

The annual China-European Union (EU) top-level talks, which will be held in Helsinki next Saturday, are expected to take relations to a new height, Antti Kuosmanen, Finnish ambassador to China, said on Friday.

It is in the interests of both China and the EU to further deepen and broaden their partnership on wide range of issues, said Kuosmanen.

While in the Finnish capital, Premier Wen Jiabao, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai are scheduled to attend the China-EU summit and the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

The EU and China signed a Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement in Brussels in May 1985, which remains the basis for Sino-EU relations.

But Kuosmanen said the scope of Sino-EU relations extends well beyond that set out in the 1985 agreement, expressing his hope that it can be expanded with a wide-ranging horizontal framework agreement.

He said the upcoming summit would announce the launch of official negotiations on such a framework agreement.

In addition to this, the China-EU summit is also expected to see progress in various fields such as clean energy and climate change.

Such high-level meetings between Chinese and EU leaders are very businesslike, having resulted in a host of agreements between the two sides.

The ambassador noted that a high-level business summit would take place at the same time, bringing together top business leaders from the EU and China.

Kuosmanen said that one of the highlights of the ASEM, taking place directly after the China-EU summit, is the participation of a growing number of countries, with Bulgaria and Romania joining its ranks this year.

The ambassador told reporters that the Iran nuclear issue would probably be high on the ASEM agenda.

Reports from Japan said that Tokyo does not plan to ask China or the Republic of Korea for a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the sidelines of the ASEM, which brings together 38 countries and European Commission.

Premier Wen Jiabao will pay an official visit to Finland soon after the ASEM, before moving on to the United Kingdom and Germany for short working visits.

Wen's last stop is the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, where he is scheduled to attend the fifth Meeting of Prime Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization.

Wen's participation in the two summits will offer more opportunities for the further comprehensive development of Sino-EU relations, according to a senior foreign policy analyst.

Wu Jianmin, president of China Foreign Affairs University and a senior diplomat who has served in a number of European countries, said Wen's visit is an important aspect of China's foreign policy towards major global powers.

"China and the EU are very important partners and enjoy very dynamic political, trade and cultural relations, but they also face some problems," Wu said, noting that one of the purposes of Wen's visit is to help tackle bilateral trade conflicts.

Wu stressed that the two sides need to discuss how to overcome the EU's growing protectionism and the increased number of anti-dumping measures against China.

Source: China Daily