China and the EU held their first round of strategic dialogue in London on Tuesday, with both sides seeing the talks as fruitful and agreeing to further the Sino-EU partnership.

Deputy Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui on Tuesday met with British Foreign Office Trade Minister Ian Pearson, whose country holds the current presidency of the EU.

In their in-depth discussions, the two sides exchanged views on each other's role in the current international system, China's peaceful development, the EU's integration process and other issues of common concern.

The two sides hailed the success of the recent China-EU summit, agreeing to ensure follow-up work is done to push forward their all-round strategic partnership.

The Chinese and EU officials decided to continue the strategic dialogue between the two sides, which they considered fruitful. During the eighth China-EU summit held in September in Beijing, the two sides signed a series of agreements on cooperation in transportation, environmental protection, space development and construction of the Beijing capital airport.

The two sides also issued a joint statement on the China-EU summit and a Joint Declaration on Climate Change. China and the EU, among others, pledged to deepen cooperation in politics, economy, transport, environmental protection, technology, culture and international and regional affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2005)