The EU has drafted a new strategy for its relationship with China, which has been described by senior EU officials as "having returned to the center" of world affairs.

 

The EU's Executive Commission will release the new policy paper today.

 

The paper describes China-EU relations as positive but there are also calls for a closer partnership to deal with global challenges such as energy supply and sustainable development as well as smoother economic and trade cooperation.

 

"We both have a huge stake in effective multilateralism, and in international peace and stability across the globe," according to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Walder in a jointly-written article for the International Herald Tribune (IHT) newspaper.

 

"We have a shared responsibility to address climate change, sustainable development and energy security. We have a shared responsibility to work more closely on issues such as development assistance in Africa."

 

They said that China's economic success in the past two decades has "lifted more people out of poverty more quickly than ever in human history" and China has become "an increasingly active international player."

 

The two EU officials will present the policy document to the European Parliament today in Strasbourg, according to European Commission (EC) spokesman Stephen Adams.

 

The document, which will review China-EU relations over the past 10 years and map out a new strategic initiative for the 25-member bloc's interaction with China, is accompanied by a policy paper on trade and investment, the EU's first ever strategic paper focusing solely on trade and investment with China, Adams said.

 

On bilateral economic and trade ties, the IHT article said: "Europe has benefited from China's market for advanced technology, high-value goods and complex services, and European consumers and businesses have benefited from competitively priced Chinese imports."

 

"Europe should continue to offer open and fair access to China's exports and to adjust to the competitive challenge," they said, urging China to strengthen its commitment to economic openness and market reform.

 

"It (China) should improve legal protection for foreign companies and reject anti-competitive trading practices and policies," they said.

 

(China Daily October 24, 2006)