Liu Yunshan (second right), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends the China-Europe High-Level Political Party Forum in Brussels on Monday. Participants from both sides are exploring ideas to promote bilateral cooperation and global governance during the three-day forum. [Wu Wei / Xinhua]

 

BRUSSELS - A senior Chinese official sent an encouraging message to crisis-hit Europe on Monday by pledging to strengthen economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

Liu Yunshan, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the China-Europe High-Level Political Party Forum.

His call came days after President Hu Jintao pledged at the G20 leaders' summit in Cannes that both sides should join hands in fighting the financial and debt crises and reform global governance.

Dozens of senior Chinese officials and think tank experts explored ideas on bilateral cooperation, sharing experiences and global governance with their European counterparts at the three-day forum held in the European Parliament.

Citing Hu's stance expressed at the G20 summit, Liu said China is ready to work for world economic recovery and strong, balanced and sustainable growth.

"We are going to discuss the new possibility and new measures of cooperation between China and Europe, which would add new impetus to bilateral relations," Liu said at the opening ceremony of the forum on Monday afternoon.

Liu called for more win-win cooperation and mutual respect for cultural differences between China and Europe, as well as a common effort to build an inclusive and open international system to face up to global challenges.

China and the EU can set an example for the rest of the world on how to deal with bilateral relations by further improving their strategic mutual trust, respecting each other's core interests and major concerns, and observing each other's development from a more objective perspective, Liu added.

Wei Jianguo, secretary-general of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the ongoing structural transformation of China's economy has offered immense opportunities for both sides to cooperate, and called on the EU to recognize China's market economy status in order to deepen cooperation.

"As strategic partners, we need to respect each other's major concerns," Wei told China Daily. "As is widely known, China has been seeking the EU's approval to give it market economy treatment, which is one of our major concerns."

Wei called on the EU to take a balanced and objective approach toward China's progress and problems in market reform and play an active role in boosting bilateral economic and trade relations.

While Beijing is stressing that Europe should mainly rely on its own structural reform to get out of the worsening crisis, the prevalent mood in Brussels was that deepening global economic interdependence requires global players to find solutions together.

Joseph Daul, president of European People's Party, the largest bloc in the European Parliament, said: "Economic interdependence will make us all victims of crisis if we don't take action together."

Daul said the strategic partnership between China and the EU not only means improving trade relations but also sharing responsibilities in order to solve problems together.

"We should also realize that the crisis is an opportunity for us to build up a more stable global system," said Daul.