FM spokesperson speaks about China's expectations for 25th China-EU Summit

BEIJING - China and the European Union (EU) will hold the 25th China-EU Summit in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a daily news briefing on Monday, when he also talked about China's expectations for the upcoming summit and current China-EU relations.

Guo said that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU, as well as the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.

The world is currently undergoing a historic transformation — the international landscape is experiencing more instability and rapid change, and unilateralism and bullying practices are significantly undermining international rule and order, placing humanity at a critical crossroads once again, Guo said.

As two major forces advancing multipolarity, two major markets supporting globalization and two major civilizations championing diversity, the 25th China-EU summit is of great importance and is drawing widespread attention from the international community, he added.

"Over the past half century, China-EU relations have weathered challenges and are now progressing toward maturity and stability, becoming one of the most influential bilateral relationships in the world," Guo said.

Cooperation between China and the EU has yielded fruitful results, he said, with each providing significant support for the other's development and providing tangible benefits to nearly 2 billion Chinese and EU people, making important contributions to global peace and development, and setting an example of mutually beneficial cooperation in the era of economic globalization.

Guo noted that over the past 50 years, annual trade between China and the EU has skyrocketed from $2.4 billion to $785.8 billion, and the stock of mutual investment has expanded from near zero to almost $260 billion. People-to-people exchanges have become increasingly frequent, and both sides have engaged in effective cooperation to address climate change and other issues, he said.

"However, China-EU relations are also confronted with challenges," Guo added. Certain individuals in the EU have played up the "partner-competitor-rival" characterization of bilateral relations, exaggerated individual trade and business issues and made baseless accusations against China on the Ukraine issue, unnecessarily hampering China-EU relations, he said.

China holds that over the course of their 50-year history, China-EU relations have accumulated ample experience and positive forces to navigate any winds or tides that may come, and to overcome difficulties and meet challenges, he noted.

He said that as the 25th China-EU Summit will be held soon, China-EU relations are at an important point as they build on past achievements and open up a new chapter.

"China hopes that the EU will work with China, view its relations with China from a comprehensive, dialectical and forward-looking perspective, draw experience and inspiration from bilateral relations over the past 50 years, follow the trend of the times, meet the expectations of the two peoples and the international community, pool consensus, rise above differences, jointly plan for the cooperation in the next 50 years, and open up a brighter future for the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership," said Guo.