BRUGES, Belgium - Cooperation between China, the European Union and the United States was absolutely essential to world peace and prosperity, Song Zhe, China's top diplomat in Brussels, said Friday.

"We, as major regional and global powers, are increasingly sharing a same destiny," Song, head of the Chinese mission to the European Union, said in a keynote speech at the opening of a two-day conference held by the College of Europe in Bruges, northwest Belgium.

"I am confident that in the second decade of the 21st century, relations between China, the EU and the US will continue to thrive in a fast-changing world," Song said.

He talked of three unchanging factors in the relationship: peace and stability would remain the general trend of the world; the world economy would continue to recover; and cooperation would continue to be the No.1 choice in their economic relationship.

"We should adopt a long-term and overarching perspective to appreciate the strategic, historical and global significance of our relations," Song said.

He reviewed recent progress in China's bilateral ties with the EU and the US, stressing that China's efforts to consolidate bilateral relations had laid a solid basis for trilateral relations.

"The road ahead is promising but certainly not trouble free," Song said, adding there were still difficulties and concerns about unbalanced progress in the bilateral ties.

He called for deeper trust, closer communication and stronger cooperation between the three sides to meet challenges more effectively.

Ambassador Viorel Isticioaia Budura, Managing Director for Asia at the European External Action Service, said at the same conference that both the EU and the US encouraged China to become a positive contributor to global governance with shared interests in regional stability and global security.

"Both have a common interest in integrating China in a sustainable and open world economy," said Isticioaia Budura, who also gave a keynote speech at the opening.

The conference, under the theme of "The EU, the US and China: towards a new international order," was initiated by the college's InBev-Baillet Latour Chair of EU-China Relations. The chair was established in 2008 to focus on the increasingly close EU-China relations.

Prof. Men Jing, the chair's director, told Xinhua in an earlier interview: "EU-US-China relations could have a huge impact on international order, while the gathering of scholars from each side helps them listen to and learn from each other, thus furthering the triangular ties".

About 40 officials and scholars from China, the EU and the US attended the conference this year to examine the dynamics of the China-EU-US relationship as well as its impact on global governance and international affairs.