China to back EU efforts to revive economy

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech during the European Union (EU)-China Business Summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2015. President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker also attended the summit. [Photo/Xinhua]

The latest European investment plan in the coming three years aims to, as explained by the EIB, revive investment in strategic projects around Europe to ensure that money reaches the real economy.

The premier also urged the two sides to further liberalize trade and investment and properly handle trade frictions, voicing his confidence of the bilateral trade exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.

In response to the Greek debt issue, Li said in a meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz that China, as a firm supporter of the European integration process, is always a responsible long-term holder of European bonds and expects an adequate solution to the Greek debt issue.

Expansive monetary policies are not quite enough for stimulating the sluggish economy, the Chinese premier said, encouraging both China and the EU to adopt structural reforms and enhance international production capacity cooperation so as to revitalize the real economy.

Noting that people-to-people exchanges have become an important pillar of the China-EU cooperation, Li urged the two sides to give full play to the high-level dialogue mechanism and make the China-EU year of intercultural dialogue a success.

Describing China as a strong and reliable partner of the EU, Juncker said the two sides should build up a stronger partnership of mutual benefit in face of the current international financial criss and other global challenges.

The EU is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in infrastructure building and inter-connectivity, he said, adding that it welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in Europe.

Li arrived in Brussels Sunday for the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting. During his visit, China and the EU issued a document to outline their future cooperation priorities and a statement on climate change, and signed several cooperation deals on regional policies, intellectual property rights protection, customs and technological innovation.

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. Two-way trade exceeded $600 billion in 2014.

After the Brussels trip, Li travelled to Paris later Monday for an official visit to France.