On May 6, Vice President Han Zhengzhou attended a reception in Beijing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Tao

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 6th. On May 6th, Vice President Han Zheng attended a reception in Beijing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union.

Han Zheng said that in the 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Europe, exchanges and dialogues have become increasingly close, the integration of interests has been deepened, and the scale and level of cooperation have been greatly improved, which not only helps each other but also benefits the world. As President Xi Jinping pointed out, there is no fundamental conflict of interests between China and Europe, nor geopolitical contradictions, and it is a partner of mutual achievements. Under the current international situation of chaos and intertwining, China-EU relations have more important strategic significance and world influence. The two sides should take the opportunity to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, uphold the original intention of establishing diplomatic relations, accurately grasp the general trend, adhere to the positioning of partnership, adhere to mutual respect, open cooperation, and mutual benefit and win-win results, promote the continuous forward and positive development of China-EU relations, work together to safeguard multilateralism and the international system with the United Nations as the core, the international order based on international law, and the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as the core, and jointly open up the next 50 years of China-EU relations that are worth looking forward to, and make greater contributions to world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

Before the reception, Han Zheng met with former European Council President Michel and representatives of the EU ambassador to China respectively. Han Zheng positively evaluated the 50-year development of China-Europe relations and said that the comprehensive resumption of exchanges by the Chinese and European legislative bodies recently provided new impetus for the development of China-Europe relations. As the two major stable and constructive forces in the world, China and Europe must shoulder their due responsibilities in the face of the complex and turbulent international situation, strengthen dialogue, deepen cooperation, properly handle economic and trade differences, and jointly maintain multilateral trade rules and order.

The European side said that in the 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Europe and China have made great progress, and EU-China relations have become one of the closest relations in the world. Both sides should review and summarize the experience and enlightenment of the 50-year development of EU-China relations, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, lay a solid foundation for the better development of EU-China relations in the next 50 years, and inject stability and certainty into the world.