Full text of China's policy paper on EU

BEIJING - China on Wednesday issued a policy paper on the European Union (EU). Following is the full text of the policy paper:

China's Policy Paper on the EU: Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-win Cooperation

April 2014

Over the past decade since the release of China's first policy paper on the European Union (EU) by the Chinese government in October 2003, the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has made important headway. Guided by the annual China-EU Summit and focusing on the three pillars of political, economic and people-to-people exchanges, China and the EU have promoted all-dimensional, multi-tiered and wide-ranging cooperation to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. China is the EU's second largest trading partner. The EU has been China's top trading partner for 10 years. The annual trade volume has exceeded 550 billion US dollars and there have been over 5 million visits between the two sides each year. China and the EU have worked together to tackle the international financial crisis and advance global governance reform, stepped up communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, and contributed significantly to world peace, development and cooperation. The first China's EU Policy Paper, which has been implemented effectively, has played an important role in guiding the development of China-EU relations.

At a crucial moment when the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership enters its second decade, the Chinese government releases its second EU policy paper to define its EU policy objectives in the new era, draw a blueprint for China-EU cooperation in the next 5 to 10 years and facilitate greater progress in China-EU relations based on a review of the achievements in China-EU relations in the past decade and in the context of international and domestic developments.

I. Seize the Opportunity to Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-win Cooperation

In the decade since China issued the first China's EU Policy Paper, tremendous changes have taken place in China, the EU and the world as a whole. Multi-polarity and economic globalization have deepened; cultural diversity and IT application have been enhanced; the overall strength of emerging markets and developing countries has been growing; countries have become more interdependent with their interests more intertwined; and peace, development and win-win cooperation have become the trend of our time. But the world is still far from being tranquil. Destabilizing factors and uncertainties affecting world peace and development are on the rise.

With the significant growth of its overall strength, China is playing an important role in major international and regional affairs. But China remains a developing country that suffers from severe lack of balance, coordination and sustainability in its development. On the domestic front, China is committed to comprehensively deepening reform to make the country a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Internationally, China pursues a greater opening-up and peaceful development. It works to build an open world economy and a new type of international relations featuring equality, mutual trust, inclusiveness, mutual learning and win-win cooperation, with a view to contributing more to world peace and common development.

Due to the impact of the international financial crisis, the EU is facing the most serious challenge since the end of the Cold War and has to urgently address a series of deep-seated structural and systemic issues. But its strategic direction of integration remains unchanged. With the efforts of steady enlargement and accelerated structural reform, the EU has worked hard to advance economic, fiscal, financial and political integration. A 28-member EU, the biggest economy in the world with strong overall strength, continues to be a global player of great strategic importance and a key part in the evolving international landscape.

China and the EU, the world's most representative emerging economy and group of developed countries respectively, are two major forces for world peace as they share important strategic consensus on building a multi-polar world. The combined economic aggregate of China and the EU accounts for one third of the world economy, making them two major markets for common development. Being an important representative of the oriental culture and the cradle of western culture and with a combined population accounting for a quarter of the world's total, China and the EU stand as two major civilizations advancing human progress. With no fundamental conflict of interests, China and the EU have far more agreement than differences. Both sides are at a crucial stage of reform and development and China-EU relations face new historic opportunities. Deepening the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-win Cooperation will provide impetus to the development of China and the EU and contribute to peace and prosperity of the world.

II. China's EU Policy in the New Era

The EU is China's important strategic partner in China's efforts to pursue peaceful development and multi-polarity of the world and a key party that China can work with to achieve industrialization, urbanization, IT application and agricultural modernization as well as its "two centenary goals". To grow China-EU relations is an integral part of China's efforts to build long-term, steady and healthy relations with major powers and a priority in its foreign policy. The Chinese government places high importance on the status and role of the EU, and is committed to working with the EU and its member states to fully implement the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation in the course of comprehensive deepening of reform in China and economic recovery in Europe, build partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization and further increase the global impact of China-EU relations.

- China-EU partnership for peace: China stands ready to work with the EU to bring the two major forces closer to pursue peaceful development in a multi-polar world, respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, make the international order and international system more just and equitable, advocate democracy in international relations and create a peaceful, stable, equitable and orderly development environment for all countries.

- China-EU partnership for growth: China stands ready to work with the EU to bring the two major markets closer to build a China-EU community of interests, strengthen the bond of interests between the two sides at the global strategic, regional and bilateral levels, carry out win-win cooperation at higher levels and contribute more to the building of an open world economy.

- China-EU partnership for reform: China stands ready to work with the EU to better align China's comprehensive deepening of reform with the EU's reform and readjustment, draw upon each other's reform experience, share reform dividends, jointly improve the ability of reform and governance, and actively participate in the formulation and reform of the rules of global governance.

- China-EU partnership for civilization: China stands ready to work with the EU to bring the two major civilizations in the East and West closer and set an example of different civilizations seeking harmony without uniformity, promoting diversity, learning from each other and enjoying common prosperity.

Given the differences in history, cultural tradition, political system and stage of economic development as well as the increasing competition between China and the EU in some sectors in recent years, the two sides have disagreements and frictions on issues of value such as human rights as well as economic and trade issues. China believes that these issues should be properly handled through dialogue in the spirit of equality and mutual respect and encourages the EU to move in the same direction.