China's relations with the EU are enjoying their best ever
period since diplomatic ties were forged in 1975, China's top
legislator Wu Bangguo said in Bucharest on Thursday.
Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National
People's Congress, made the remarks in a speech at the Romanian
parliament.
He said China and the EU have a wide range of common interests
in terms of peace and development of the world. Thanks to their
joint efforts, bilateral relations have withstood the test of time
and have been moving forward smoothly, particularly since the
mid-1990s.
Wu said the achievement was credited to a series of factors,
including the deepening of mutual trust, enlargement of cooperation
and communication in trade and other fields.
He said mutual trust has served as the political foundation of
the Sino-EU relationship. The two sides have maintained close
high-level contacts.
In 2005 alone, nine Chinese leaders visited EU countries as well
as its headquarters in Belgium, while 18 leaders from EU member
states or institutions traveled to China.
Both sides champion multi-polarization and democratization in
international relations, the respect of the UN's authority and its
leading role, and the settlement of international disputes by
peaceful means, he noted.
Wu said economic and trade cooperation forms the economic
foundation of the Sino-EU relationship.
With deepening of political ties, bilateral economic and trade
cooperation has grown rapidly, Wu said, noting that the EU has been
China's top trade partner for two consecutive years and China is
the EU's second largest trade partner.
Moreover, cooperation in investment and technology is being
enhanced and the mechanism of trade and economic consultation is
improving, he said.
Wu said exchanges in sectors like science, education, culture
and tourism have formed the social basis of bilateral
relationship.
China has become the first non-EU country to participate in the
Galileo satellite navigation project, while the EU is involved in a
number of China's high-tech projects.
Wu said China supports the EU's integration process, and has put
the Sino-EU relationship in a critical position in China foreign
policy.
The relationship has made it evident that countries with
different social systems are absolutely able to develop cooperation
and ties further, as long as they comply with the Five Principles
of Peaceful Coexistence, consistently pursue common interests and
properly solve their differences.
Romania is the first leg of Wu's four-nation tour, which will
also take him to Moldova, Greece and Russia.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2006)
