Three key moments in EU-China ties

Yang Yanyi, China's ambassador to the European Union, vividly remembers when Beijing and Brussels knotted their ties in May 1975. She had just graduated from university and landed a job at a tourist company in Beijing to promote exchanges between China and the United States.

"Though I was not involved in exchanges between China and Europe, I sensed that the steam was building to deepen and expand the relationship between China and the West (the US and Europe)," Yang says.

At that time, China had not launched its opening-up campaign and small groups of teachers, lawyers, doctors, businesspeople and journalists from Europe and the US, arranged as tourists, had made visits to China. Some were even received by Chinese leaders, she recalls.

"Today is totally different from what happened four decades ago," she says in her office in a suburb of Brussels. "Two-way exchanges have now taken shape."

Yang says that more than 70 direct flights currently link China and Europe every day, with more than 6 million Europeans and Chinese paying visits to each continent every year.

She says the China-EU relationship is on the right track despite a few setbacks and recalls three events over the past four decades that have been pivotal for bilateral ties.

The first occurred on May 6, 1975, when China and the European Economic Community, which comprised Western European countries at the time, established diplomatic relations as the US and Soviet Union squared off in the Cold War.

"Against such an international backdrop, leaders from both sides showed extraordinary political courage which helped write a historic chapter in the EU-China relationship," she says.

In 2003, the EU and China advanced relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, boosting their roles in their relations with the international community.

"This is the second event of historic importance. Since then, we decided that our governmental heads should meet annually," Yang says.

The last influential event, Yang says, was President Xi Jinping's historic visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels, the first by a Chinese president.

"Xi has proposed to build four partnerships of peace, growth, reform and civilization between China and the European Union, which has enriched the strategic partnership," says Yang. "In my opinion, President Xi's visit has decided the direction, sped up the paces and boosted the levels of our relationship."

Looking forward, Yang says she is filled with confidence. She says both sides have paid a great deal of attention to each sides' global positions and roles from a strategic point of view.

"We believe as the two major global forces, two big markets and two significant civilizations, we should work together to achieve world peace and boost development," she says.

Yang adds that both the EU and China are at the same "key stage" of development and reform and are shouldered with development opportunities as well as challenges.

Another reason for her confidence is that both sides have worked from their common interests in maintaining global peace, boosting economic growth as well as pushing for common development and sustainable patterns.

"And lastly, we have set up smooth communication and exchange channels between China and the EU, especially on strategic, political and diplomatic fronts," she says. "We are thus very confident about the outlook of the EU-China relationship."

Yang says China is working with other countries in developing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as well as actively developing pilot free trade zones in Shanghai and Tianjin and in the Guangdong and Fujian provinces to explore and re-establish the "national treatment model", which is jargon for the equal treatment of foreign and domestic investors alike, and the "negative list management model", which allows investments if there is no law or regulation to prevent or forbid it.

"China's strong economic performance as well as changes taking place in Europe and across the global landscape has contributed to forging closer cooperative ties between China and the EU," Yang says.

She says China's accelerated pace in innovating its industries, the information technology sector, urbanization, agricultural modernization and green growth, and the EU's relaunching of the process of structural reforms to build the medium-term growth potential, will create broader converging interest and generate greater market, investment and cooperation opportunities.

"It is very encouraging that both China and the EU are taking full advantage of the 40th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership featuring peace, growth, reform and civilization," says Yang.

China and the EU are working closely to further implement the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, attaching importance to taking negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement on a "fast track".

"This endeavor is testimony to our shared vision to put in place a single comprehensive legal framework to secure predictable long-term access to Chinese and EU markets respectively and provide for strong protection of investors and their investments," Yang says.

Since late 2013, China and the EU have held five rounds of negotiations - a sixth will be held in June.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn