Abou told a press conference held at the EU Embassy in Beijing that the EU Commission has just approved a document entitled ``EU-China: Closer partners, growing responsibilities``, which is an all-round guide to the future development of the EU-China relationship.

As the document states, two hundred years ago, China was the largest economy in the world. But by 1978, its share of global GDP had fallen to 0.5 percent. After two decades of reform and economic openness, China has notched up annual average growth of 9 percent since 1980 and has seen its share of world GDP expand tenfold to reach five percent of global GDP.

Abou said the EU and China agreed on a strategic partnership in 2003, when the EU worked to engage China in the world economy. China is now not only a major player in the world, it has also grown into one of EU's most important partners.

Abou said China has re-emerged as a major power in the last decade. It has become the world's fourth economy and third exporter, but also an increasingly important political power.

China's development will have a profound impact on global politics and trade, so the EU must improve policy coordination at all levels, and ensure a focused single European voice on key issues, he added.

Abou noted that a closer strategic partnership between EU and China means increased responsibilities on each side. The EU will continue to support China's transition towards a more open and plural society, and China should shoulder more responsibility in international affairs.

Talking about the new EU-China trade and investment policy document in the new partnership document, Abou said the document stressed China is the single most important challenge for EU trade policy, and agreed China is a globalization success story, not a globalization scare story.

In its new trade and investment policy document, the EU says that China's integration into the global trading and investment system has been beneficial for both Europe and for China. The EU represents more than 19 percent of China's external trade. For China, access to Europe's market has helped lift millions of people out of poverty since 1990.

Abou said China's expanding external trade means growing expectations. China must fulfil its WTO obligations and commit to trading fairly. China should also further open its market and give more support to European companies. For the EU, adjusting to the competitive challenge and driving a fair bargain with China will be the central challenge of EU trade policy in the decade to come.

The EU policy document also mentioned some specific measures to take in the future to ensure fair competition with China, including urging China to encourage domestic consumption and solve the RMB currency issue. But Abou said the EU will not press China to solve these problems immediately, and will help China to make progress gradually.

The EU document believed sustainable development is one of today's key global challenges. Abou said according to the new document, the EU will work closely with China on issues like energy security, global climate change and environmental protection. The EU will help China ensure secure and sustainable energy supplies, reduce the negative impact of energy production on the environment and climate, and encourage the use of clean energy.

According to Abou, until now the legal basis for relations between EU and China has been the 1985 Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which no longer reflects the breadth and scope of the EU-China relationship.

Abou said that, at the ninth EU-China Summit, leaders agreed to launch negotiations on a new, extended Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) to update the basis for EU-China cooperation. The PCA will be a framework covering the full range and complexity of the EU-China relationship, and will also be forward-looking and reflect the priorities outlined in the new document.

Abou said senior EU officials will visit China soon to discuss the PCA negotiations, including EU Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson who will start his visit to China on November 6th, and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero Waldner who will visit China early next year.