Li: Bolster Sino-EU cooperation

Premier Li Qiang stressed on Thursday the need for China and the European Union to enhance multilateral coordination and promote opening-up and cooperation to make greater contributions to promoting the recovery of the global economy and improving global governance amid the current headwinds against economic globalization.

Li made the remarks during a meeting with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Lagarde, former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in a social media post on Tuesday that she is in Beijing "for several official meetings with the authorities to understand exactly how the Chinese economy is going and what are the challenges and what the cooperation will be like between all of us".

Calling the China-EU relationship one of the most important bilateral ties in the world, Li told Lagarde that stepping up cooperation between China and the EU is essential and reflects the overwhelming trend.

China is ready to continue to work with the European side to consolidate political mutual trust, expand pragmatic cooperation, and jointly promote development and prosperity, he said, adding that this will benefit both sides and the world at large.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the EU.

Li said that last month, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with President of the European Council Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, which provided strategic guidance for China and the EU to further deepen their partnership.

Over the past 50 years, China and the EU have formed strong economic interdependence. Bilateral trade has surged from $2.4 billion to $785.8 billion annually.

The premier said the economies of China and the EU are highly complementary. As China is continuously unlocking the potential of its super-sized market, there is significant potential for cooperation between China and the EU in many areas, he said, adding that cooperation is the only way for win-win results.

Li also said that China is fully capable of offsetting the negative impact of external factors, as the country is implementing more proactive and effective macroeconomic policies, strengthening countercyclical adjustments and taking multiple measures to expand domestic demand and boost consumption this year.

Lagarde said that it is important for the EU and China to maintain high-level exchanges, dialogue and cooperation in a world full of uncertainties.

She highlighted the two sides' deeply intertwined interests and common responsibility in many areas such as maintaining global financial stability and promoting the development of international trade.

Lagarde said that the European Central Bank is pleased to have established a central bank governors' meeting mechanism with the People's Bank of China, and to have held the first meeting.

She also said that a tariff war or trade war will only lead to a lose-lose situation, and adhering to multilateralism and strengthening openness and cooperation should be the right choice.

In a speech delivered on Wednesday in Beijing, Lagarde said that coercive trade policies are not a sustainable solution to today's trade tensions.

"To the extent that protectionism addresses imbalances, it is not by resolving their root causes, but by eroding the foundations of global prosperity," she said.