China looks forward to Europe viewing bilateral ties in a comprehensive, dialectical, and developing manner: Chinese FM spokesperson

China has announced news of the upcoming 25th China-EU Summit. When asked to introduce China's expectations on this summit and how to assess current China-Europe relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday that as two major forces advancing multipolarity, two major markets supporting globalization, and two major civilizations promoting diversity, the China-EU leaders' meeting at this time holds significant importance and has drawn broad attention from the international community.

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 UN. At a time when the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century and facing a volatile and complex international landscape, with unilateralism and acts of bullying severely undermining the international order and rules, humanity stands at a critical crossroads, the spokesperson said. 

As two major forces advancing multipolarity, two major markets supporting globalization, and two major civilizations promoting diversity, China and Europe holding leaders' meeting at this time holds significant importance and has drawn broad attention from the international community, Guo noted.

Guo noted that over the past half-century, China-EU relations have weathered many storms and have grown into a mature and stable relationship—now one of the most influential bilateral relationships in the world. China-EU cooperation has yielded fruitful results, strongly supporting mutual development and delivering tangible benefits to nearly 2 billion people on both sides, Guo said. 

It has made important contributions to global peace and development and set a model for mutually beneficial cooperation in the era of economic globalization. Bilateral trade has grown from $2.4 billion to $785.8 billion, and two-way investment stock has increased from almost zero to nearly $260 billion. People-to-people exchanges have also become increasingly close, Guo noted. 

While China and the EU have achieved fruitful cooperation in areas such as climate change, the relationship also faces certain challenges, Guo said. 

Some in the EU have continued to reinforce the so-called "triple positioning" of their China policy, exaggerate specific trade and economic issues in a one-sided manner, and make groundless accusations against China over the Ukraine issue, causing unnecessary disruptions to China-EU relations. China firmly believes that, having developed over the past 50 years, China-EU relations have accumulated enough experience and positive momentum to withstand changes and overcome difficulties, Guo noted. 

The spokesperson emphasized that with the 25th China-EU Summit approaching, China-EU relations stand at a crucial juncture, and are poised to move forward by building on past achievements. China looks forward the EU meeting China half way, viewing China-EU relations in a comprehensive, dialectical, and developing manner, and drawing meaningful lessons from the past 50 years of engagement, responding to the trends of the times and the shared expectations of both peoples and the broader international community, building consensus, rising above differences, and jointly planning the next 50 years of cooperation, thereby opening a new chapter in the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, the spokesperson said.