EC Vice President: quality more important than speed for China-EU negotiation

European Commission Vice-President Gunter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said his visit to Beijing early this week was "very helpful" on promoting the communication between EU and China on concerns of both sides in the negotiation of a new partnership and cooperation framework agreement.

Mr. Verheugen said he was not in China "for the negotiation", but he argued that the negotiation, as the legal basis for the bilateral cooperation for the next thirty years, must follow the principle that "quality is more important than speed".

He had no idea about when any concrete issues can be discussed, while he expressed his confidence that the negotiation would be a success.

EU is China's largest trading partner. However, according to a report by People's Daily recently, it has launched 127 anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products, more than any other WTO members.

Mr. Verheugen denied that there was any EU's "protectionism attitude" toward China and affirmed EU¡¯s strict environment policies had "nothing to do with protectionism". On the other hand, he complained about "complicated procedures" that European products to China were "subject to".

Energy is also on the top of his agenda for the China trip. He recognized that the Chinese government realized the importance and urgency of the problem of energy efficiency. He offered to share EU's experience in this regard.

By People's Daily Online