President of European Commission Romano Prodi will visit Beijing and Shanghai from April 13 to 16, at the invitation of the Chinese authorities. It will be the third official visit to China by a EC President.

Established in 1975, China-EU relations have strengthened considerably in recent years, particularly since EU's adoption of a new Commission strategy on China ("A maturing partnership: common interests and challenges in EU-China relations") and China's first ever policy paper on the EU on October 13, 2003.

Both sides agreed at the 6th EU-China Summit on October 30, 2003 to broaden the scope of their dynamic and comprehensive partnership, which encompasses a wide range of issues and sectors.

Commenting on EU-China relations, Prodi said: "As both sides agreed at the EU-China Summit last year, our relations are at a historic high point and we have a dynamic partnership in place, full of substantial and constructive action. I am looking forward to seeing the Chinese leadership and to achieving yet further progress on our common agenda.”

In Beijing, Mr Prodi will have meetings with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The two leaders will discuss ways to enhance EU-China political and commercial relations and exchange views on the overall international situation.

They will also discuss international issues, where the EU and China share a commitment to effective multilateralism and underline the need to reinforce exchanges on migration issues, including the early signing of an EC-China readmission agreement.

Several new or potential sectoral agreements (e.g. customs, space cooperation, peaceful use of nuclear research, civil aviation) and policy dialogues will feature in the exchanges.

The Commission President will also deliver a speech on "The role of the European Union in a changing world" in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and launch a second €11 million program to develop European Studies in Chinese universities.

In Shanghai, Prodi will meet Mayor Han Zheng to discuss economic cooperation and Shanghai's preparation for the World Expo of 2010. He will pay a visit to the China-Europe International Business School, which has been supported by the EU since its inception in 1994. He will make a presentation there on Europe's economic ties with China.

In 2003, seven Commissioners visited China and new dialogues on industrial policy, IPR, competition policy and trade policy were launched, in addition to the signing of two milestones agreements on tourism and satellite navigation cooperation. Commissioners Lamy, Fischler, and Busquin have already made official visits to China in 2004 and several more visits are scheduled for this year.

(China.org.cn, April 9, 2004)