Chinese vice premier calls for stronger China-EU climate cooperation

UNITED NATIONS - Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said here Tuesday that Beijing stands ready to work with the European Union (EU) to turn bilateral cooperation on climate change into a bight spot in their partnership.

Zhang, who is here for the UN Climate Summit as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy, made the remarks at a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who agreed to boost bilateral climate cooperation.

With China and the EU respectively being the largest developing and developed economy, fostering closer China-EU communication and collaboration on climate change will promote the development of their comprehensive strategic partnership in a healthy and steady manner, said Zhang.

Meanwhile, the vice premier recalled that during Xi's historic visit to the EU headquarters earlier this year, the two sides agreed to deepen their partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization, which has charted the course for the development of bilateral relations.

The task now is for the two sides to put the important consensus into practice and bring China-EU cooperation to higher levels, said Zhang, adding that they also need to speed up investment talks and cultivate some pivotal cooperation projects in such areas as urbanization, advanced technology and infrastructure construction.

The two sides, he suggested, also should maintain contact on major international issues and strengthen coordination in areas key to global development, and thus boost the strategic significance of bilateral ties.

Speaking highly of Xi's landmark visit to the EU headquarters, Barroso said the EU and China are close and friendly partners and have carried out fruitful cooperation in various bilateral and multilateral spheres.

The EU appreciates the active efforts China has carried out in dealing with climate change and believes that China's action helps muster international input against the global threat, he said.

The EU is willing to boost communication and cooperation with China and push for positive results both in the Lima meeting in November and the Paris conference next year, Barroso added.