President Hu Jintao
met in Beijing Monday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
President of the European Commission Manuel Barroso, and EU Council
Secretary-General Javier Solana, who are here to attend the eighth
China-EU summit.
Hu said he had "very good talks" with Blair and Barroso not long
ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, and Beijing, respectively. He is very
glad to have met them again in Beijing.
Keeping frequent exchanges between China-EU leaders?is
conducive to enhancing mutual understanding, expanding mutually
beneficial cooperation and boosting the development of the China-EU
comprehensive strategic partnership, Hu said.
Blair, whose country now holds the EU rotating presidency, said
the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership is "very
important," not only for bilateral trade and economic cooperation,
but also for their cooperation in important political issues of the
world.
Hu said China-EU ties are more mature after 30 years of
development. The two sides have maintained frequent high-level
dialogues and consultation, and bilateral trade volume has seen
continuous substantive increases.
Meanwhile, China and the EU have made new progress in their
cooperation on some important projects, and have kept close
contacts and coordination on major international and regional
issues, he added.
"We appreciate the EU's adherence to the one-China policy and
its efforts in facilitating bilateral mutually beneficial
cooperation," Hu said.
He said China and the EU are "two important forces" on the
present international stage.
In this era of global multilateralism and economic
globalization, the deepening of a China-EU comprehensive strategic
partnership is of profound importance to maintaining world peace,
promoting common development and realizing mutual benefits, he
said.
China attaches great importance to its relations with the EU, Hu
said, expressing his hope that the two sides will enhance mutual
trust, expand consensus and promote their strategic
partnership.
Hu noted that China also highly values Sino-British ties, and is
ready to join hands with Britain to further deepen the Sino-British
comprehensive strategic partnership. He hopes Britain will play a
"positive role" in advancing bilateral ties during its holding of
EU rotating presidency.
Blair said he agrees with Hu, noting he hopes the two sides will
make joint efforts to beef up bilateral ties.
The EU pursues the one-China policy and the two sides have
conducted fruitful cooperation in trade, education and
environmental protection, and still enjoy broad prospects, Blair
said.
From the EU standpoint, Barroso said the EU looks upon China's
development from a global point of view. China's development brings
opportunity to the EU.
He hopes the two sides will promote the smooth development of
economic and trade cooperation in a "friendly, flexible and mutual
understanding" attitude.
Solana said the EU and China have made "fruitful cooperation" in
international affairs. The EU hopes to maintain close contacts with
China and enhance bilateral cooperation on important international
and regional issues such as anti-terrorism and the
non-proliferation of arms.
During the China-EU summit scheduled for Monday afternoon,
Premier Wen
Jiabao and EU leaders will exchange views on the further
development of the China-EU all-round strategic partnership as well
as international and regional issues of common concern.
(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2005)
