Follow us on:   

Fate of China, EU closely linked- CPC leader
April 23, 2013, 8:47 am

[Xinhua]

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Europe comprehensive strategic partnership [Xinhua]

China’s top Communist Party leader Liu Yunshan on Monday called on China and Europe to make joint efforts to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership.

Liu stressed that the fate of China and Europe is closely linked with increasingly interdependency of all countries in the world.

Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the fourth China-Europe High-Level Political Parties Forum held in Suzhou City in east China’s Jiangsu Province.

The forum will be attended by 44 political parties from 27 European countries, a regional European political party, a political party group in the European Parliament and high-ranking officials from several European think tanks.

China has inked its first free trade agreement with a European country when Premier Li Keqiang signed an FTA with visiting Iceland prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir last week.

Liu, also a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said that deepening reform and opening up should be implemented in the process of China’s modernisation.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Europe comprehensive strategic partnership.

He advised to promote the two sides’ relations by consolidating the economic foundation for the China-Europe partnership, strengthening cultural exchange, and working together to address global challenges.

The scope of party-to-party relationship between China and Europe has increased, he noted, adding that the CPC is willing to strengthen ties with all parties in Europe and make efforts for the two sides’ cooperation as well as their peoples’ benefit.

Representatives from the European countries also expressed their hope at the forum to put aside ideological differences and deepen mutual understanding with China.

Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi told the European Union’s (EU) top diplomat, Catherine Ashton last week that China-EU ties were his country’s top foreign policy priority.

Even as the EU is trying to boost its exports to China, they have been sorting through trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Over 1,000 companies from across the European solar industry have written last week to the European Commission warning against levying import duties on Chinese solar panels.

They said in a letter to the Commission that this could have a grave impact on the industry.

In 2011, China won WTO cases over exports of shoes and metal screws to the EU, forcing Brussels to change its anti-dumping law.

With inputs from Xinhua