BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting President of the European Council Charles Michel on Thursday vowed to strengthen strategic communication and cooperation while properly managing differences during their meeting in Beijing.
This was the first official meeting between leaders of China and the EU since the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and one which represents the EU’s “goodwill of furthering relations with China.”
Michel’s visit shows the EU’s desire to remain engaged with China and clarify misunderstandings through face-to-face communication. Following German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to China and Xi’s meetings with several European leaders in Bali on the sidelines of the G20, Michel also aims to consolidate the momentum of stabilizing China-EU relations, which are currently facing great challenges.
Xi said on Thursday that maintaining an onward and upward momentum in the China-EU relationship and keeping it mutually beneficial serves the interests of both sides and those of the international community. The more unstable the international situation becomes and the more acute challenges the world faces, the greater global significance China-EU relations take on, Xi noted.
China will continue to develop its ties with EU from a strategic, long-term perspective, and will work with the EU to strengthen strategic communication and coordination and promote the steady and sustained growth of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, also met with the EU leader respectively on Thursday.
Michel’s visit to China is of great significance, experts said, as Europe is now showing that it stands closer with the US, and the EU stance toward China is becoming increasingly tense, with more emphasis on competition and systemic rivalry. The EU’s foreign policy is at a juncture on whether to confront or cooperate with China.
At such a critical moment, Michel’s visit has sent a signal that represents rational voices, that is, refusing to follow the US and treat China primarily through a political and ideological perspective, Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Thursday.
What the US wants is hegemony, but Europe wants survival, and the EU cannot achieve that without China, Sun said, “China, instead, has never posed a threat to them.”
Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday that Michel is representing the EU and the interests and voices of the majority of its 27 member states, not those of the minority.
Certain countries, such as Lithuania, which have been rather aggressive in their policies toward China, cannot play a leading role against the backdrop of close cooperation and enhancing dialogue between China and the EU.
