The European Union (EU) and China should work together to ward off potential surge of protectionism amid the global economic slump, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said on Thursday.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (L) shakes hands with European Union Commissioner for Trade Catherine Ashton prior to the Second China-EU High Level Economic and Trade Dialog at the EU headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, May 7, 2009. [Wu Wei/Xinhua]

"China and the EU should stand firm against any form of protectionism for the sake of a global economic recovery," Wang said in an opening remark at a high-level economic and trade dialogue between the EU and China, two major trading powers in the world.

The EU is now China's largest trading partner, while China is the second largest of the EU. Trade volume between them grew to 425.58 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, an increase of 19.5 percent over the previous year despite the impact of the financial crisis, according to figures from China's customs authorities.

Wang said the two sides have every reason to avoid protectionism, either for the urgent need to work out of the current crisis or due to the irreversible trend of globalization.

He warned that protectionism, featuring the pursuit of benefits for one country at the expense of others, would in the end protect nobody, but lead to retaliation and make the crisis even worse, which has been proved by the history.

The world economy paid a heavy price for the prevalence of trade protectionism during the Great Depression in the 1930s, which resulted in the contraction of global trade by two thirds.

As the world economy plunged into its first-ever recession since the Second World War in the wake of the financial crisis, there is an increasing risk that more governments would resort to protectionist measures.

For the EU, there has been more frequent use of anti-dumping measures against Chinese products, which is a major concern of the Chinese side.

Wang urged the EU to take full account of China's concern and make real efforts to remove trade and investment barriers, adding the economies of China and the EU have much to offer each other and the two-way trade holds a huge potential.

He in particular called on the EU to relax restrictions on the transfer of advanced green technology to China so as to promote sustainable development.

"The EU has an edge in new energy, energy-efficient building and waste recycling. There is a vast market in China for those green investments," Wang said.