EU, China need each other: experts
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European Union and China need each other, said Klas Molin, Head of Asian Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden on Tuesday at a seminar organized by China Alliance in Stockholm.
"China means a lot more to us when we studied the 12th five year plan of China. It shows that EU is very much in Beijing's mind," Molin said at the beginning of the seminar focusing on China's 12th five year plan and its implications on China-EU relations and what it means for EU's foreign policy.
Jointly established by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, Stockholm Environment Institute and the China Economic Research Center, Stockholm School of Economics, China Alliance aims at discussing on how to deal with a stronger China.
Men Jing, Professor of European Union-China Relations at College of Europe gave a keynote presentation on the drawing process and the main content of China's 12th year plan.
"Twelfth year plan is a critical tool for China to achieve its development objectives, it also means a lot of opportunities for the EU because it pays more attention to addressing social issues such as imbalance, education, health care, environment and climate change," Men said.
The 12th five year plan shows a very strong commitment in dealing with climate issue and it is an honest attempt to curb pollution for example by an investment of 4 trillion Yuan (about 600 billion U.S. dollars) in mainly clean energy and high tech sectors, said Marie Olsson from Stockholm Environment Institute, adding that "it encourages recycling and shows a clear recognition of the importance of green development."
"EU-China relations develop at two levels, one is at the EU level which shows more diverse EU and a more diverse China, the other is at the country level, bilateral relations between China and European countries have seen so many leaders and delegation visits," Charlotta Ozaki-Macias said.
Ozaki-Macias, head of East Asia Affairs in Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs used to work in the EU headquarters in Brussels.
Bates Gill, director of SIPRI said that the 12th year plan is a very important policy document for China, thus to understand China, one needs to seriously understand its plans and its implications.
Gill said the seminar helps people understand more about China and there is a need for the EU to further understand China and its policy implications for the EU.
