C hina and the European Union have reached eight-point consensus and signed new agreements on further developing trade relations and enhancing Intellectual property rights protection.
The agreement was reached while the EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is visiting China.
CRI’s yixiu reports.
Reporter:
 The agreement on China-EU trade relations has been made amid recent testy trade ties between the two sides, since the EU has levied anti-dumping taxes on Chinese shoes exporting to Europe, and issued a new policy vowing to drag China before the WTO in future trade disputes.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is in China with the mission to explain EU's new approach and forge the trade ties.
Peter Mandelson has praised trade links as a vital engine to power the Sino- EU relationships, and recognized China's work to fulfill its WTO commitment.
“China has done a lot in meeting its WTO obligations since 2001. China is making real progress. It’s implementing a reform. Of course there are some outstanding issues, and there are some crucial areas where there are still barriers and questions for fair trade to address. But for all of this, we’ll work together to iron out the difficulties.”
The consensus includes the settlement to trade frictions through friendly consultations, cooperation between medium and small-sized companies, department-level exchanges and dialogue on service trade, informal dialogues on iron and steel trade.
A memorandum of understanding on jointly strengthening IPR protection was signed after the meeting.
As the EU has become China’s top trading partner and China is the EU’s second-largest trading partner after the United States, both sides have agreed that they should settle the trade disputes through dialogue and consultations, so as to maintain the smooth trade ties between the two sides.
Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai stresses the importance of talks.
“While coming across trade problems, especially trade disputes, both sides should conduct the dialogue at the earliest stage. Dialogues and consultations are the best way to find solutions. ”
However, the Chinese minister has criticized EU's anti-dumping investigation against the imported Chinese shoes.
The Minister has also called on EU to recognize China's full market economy status from an objective view.
Yixiu, CRI News
|
Director: Liu Chi