EU-China Summit: New decade of cooperation

Tremendous changes have taken place both in the European Union and in China over the past 10 years.

In this period, we have grown closer together. We have built a real strategic partnership encompassing broad political, economic and people-to-people cooperation.

The EU remains China's biggest economic partner, with bilateral trade in goods and services reaching almost half a trillion euros in 2012, a four-fold increase from 10 years ago. This is leading to the creation of jobs and business opportunities for both sides.

Six million people now travel every year between the EU and China, three times more than in 2003.

At the same time, we have significantly developed our political dialog and our exchanges on joining forces to foster stability and prosperity across the globe.

The EU-China Summit held today in Beijing will open a new decade of cooperation. This is a moment for us to consider how to expand our strategic partnership even further.

On security, we want to improve how we deal together with the most pressing global threats and challenges.

Ongoing close collaboration with China in the "E3+3" talks — which involve the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany — and on the Iranian nuclear issue, for example, shows how our common engagement can achieve progress.

We can also help each other to ensure security and stability in our respective neighborhoods, be it concerning Syria or ensuring the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

We are currently building security and crisis management contacts on the basis of successful cooperation in fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

Mutual prosperity

On mutual prosperity, we expect to launch negotiations for an EU-China investment agreement at the summit. This will intensify economic relations by facilitating investment protection, improving conditions for market access and the protection of intellectual property rights — measures that will strengthen our common aim of job creation and growth.

On sustainable development, "green growth" should become a key area in addressing both global and domestic challenges. It is also a source of new business opportunities.

The pace of urbanization in China is impressive. Our societies want to breathe fresh air, drink quality water, and eat safe food. People need to be able to commute easily every day between their home and their workplace. The environmental impact of pollutants must be reduced and the importance of protecting our cultural heritage increased.

On these issues, the European Union has the technical know-how from which China can benefit. A major urbanization forum and exhibition will be held alongside the summit to illustrate what we can achieve together.

We believe the EU remains an attractive political, economic and social project.

The process of enlargement maintains its vigor with Croatia becoming the 28th EU member state last July and other countries advancing in their European aspirations. Many Eastern European countries are also reinforcing their links with the EU through political association, closer economic integration and visa agreements to improve mobility.

The EU remains the world's largest economy.

In recent years, the EU has taken important structural measures as part of its contribution to pull the international community out of the economic crisis. Growth is starting to recover and the outlook is improving. Free trade agreements are being negotiated and concluded with major world economies.

Despite economic hardships, the EU has maintained, and indeed stepped up, its international engagements.

Currently more than 7,000 men and women are deployed in 14 EU crisis-management operations on three continents. Furthermore, troops from EU member states also participate in many UN and NATO operations.

The EU remains the largest donor of development and humanitarian assistance, providing more than half of the world's aid. Additionally, we firmly believe that the protection of human rights is the best way to preserve social justice and ultimately the social stability of nations.

As global actors in a multi-polar world, the EU and China share the responsibility for building a more secure, more prosperous and fairer world.

We are convinced that the 16th EU-China Summit and 10th anniversary of the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership are an opportunity to pave the way for even more cooperation and exchanges that benefit us all.

The writers are Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.