Active dialogues conducive to EU-China trade ties

BRUSSELS - Italian Vice Minister for Economic Development Carlo Calenda has said that active dialogues between China and the European Union (EU) could facilitate their trade ties and help avoid trade disputes.

More frequent technical meetings and political dialogues between China and the EU were necessary and beneficial before opening anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases, the official said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Calenda, who is the top trade negotiator for Italy at the Council of the EU, said he believed that holding such meetings would also help strengthen the EU-China trade relations.

"We know that these issues are on the table and we know that in the future we will have to solve them, so we have to identify these problems before these issues become more evident and lead to commercial disputes," Calenda said.

He added that he has proposed twice at the EU Council that a new approach is needed, and opening a problem-solving session between the EU and China was necessary.

Meanwhile, Calenda said the launch of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) was another important element in building better trade relations between China and the EU.

The BIT was largely about market access, said Calenda. "This agreement would be an extraordinary result for us."