BEIJING - Visiting European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Tuesday that the European Union should deepen its partnership with China, especially in trade and people-to-people exchanges.

"We don't see China as a threat, but an opportunity," he said in a speech to around 500 students at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The trade relationship between the EU and China has been one of the major areas of cooperation.

The EU became China's top export market in 2004, while China is now Europe's second-largest trading partner.

However, trade frictions have continued between the two, with the latest dispute breaking out just before Van Rompuy arrived in China for his four-day visit. The EU on May 14 decided to impose anti-subsidy and dumping duties on Chinese fine-coated paper products.

China then announced a plan to impose an anti-subsidy tariff on potato starch imported from the EU.

"We have some differences in this field; that is normal. We should discuss these openly and together find compromises that are mutually beneficial," said Van Rompuy.

China has been supporting eurozone countries as they cope with the impact of the global financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis.

"The EU supports China's stable development with investment and technology. Thus both sides are taking our mutual interdependence to new heights," he said.

Van Rompuy, the first permanent president of the European Council, chose China as the first country outside Europe to visit in his new post, he regarded China and the EU as "key players" in an interdependent world, saying the two should engage more in strategic discussions on various challenges, such as energy security, food security and cyber crime, to realize mutual benefits.

Climate change is another issue that is high on the EU's agenda, he noted, adding that China has now become a world leader in green technology, a field in which there is still potential for further cooperation between the two.

Political coordination on regional and global issues, as well as people-to-people exchanges, are areas that China and the EU should explore to deepen their cooperation, Van Rompuy said.

"We expect more Chinese students in Europe, and more European students in China, to create better mutual understandings," he added.

Zhou Hong, an expert on European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Van Rompuy's comment that China and the EU are not in a zero-sum game was correct.

"China and the EU both have their own unique way to develop. But we have common interests, giving us large space to make the pie bigger," Zhou said, adding that despite some differences, there is already close cooperation on green energy technology and climate change, and this should be further enhanced.

Zhao Shengnan contributed to this story.

China Daily