China-EU cooperation conforms to interests of each side

BEIJING - With Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Europe, the further deepened cooperation between China and the European Union can benefit the interests of the both sides.

The premier will co-chair the China-EU leaders' meeting with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. This will be the first meeting between Li and the European Union's new leadership.

Li will also meet Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. After Brussels, Li will visit France, the first visit to the country by a Chinese premier in 10 years.

According to the Foreign Ministry, during the visit, China will ink a series of documents of cooperation with the EU, Belgium and France, concerning climate change, finance, nuclear power, agriculture and others.

In Li's six European trips in three years, China and European countries have signed agreements worth almost 100 billion euros. The premier's visit is highly expected to achieve more fruits of cooperation between the two sides.

Wang Shouwen, vice commerce minister, said last week that during this visit, Li will also strengthen cooperation with the EU on policies concerning trade investment in a bid to support China's initiative of the new Silk Road.

Although apart far from each other, China, the EU and other European countries witness steady and closer ties in recent years, especially in economic and trade.

The EU has been China's largest trading partner for 11 years while China has been the EU's second largest trading partner for 12 years. Bilateral trade volume exceeded 600 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

At present, cooperation between the two sides have more basis as China is promoting international capacity cooperation while the EU is hoping to implement a large-scale investment plan to revitalize its economy.

The EU's Juncker Investment Plan is meant to unlock investment from the private sector by guaranteeing part of the investment with money from the EU budget and the European Investment Bank.

After over three decades of industrialization, China has accumulated significant advantages in infrastructure construction and equipment manufacturing. Cooperation in these fields with Europe will stimulate demands in both sides, and in turn provide more momentum for economic growth of both sides.

China and the EU have over 30 trillion GDP in aggregate. The deepened cooperation between the two sides will definitely provide great momentum to the recovery of global economy.