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Premier on Sino-EU: stronger ties, greater prosperity

CRI, November 23, 2013

• In an article published in British newspaper The Telegraph, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang writes there is "great potential" for expanding co-operation between China and Europe. The article is titled, "A stronger China-Europe partnership will bring us all greater prosperity".

  The following is the full text of the article:

  A stronger China-Europe partnership will bring us all greater prosperity

  The 16th China-EU Summit, which took place in Beijing this week, yielded fruitful results and issued the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Co-operation.

  It has announced the launch of negotiations on a China-EU investment agreement and set the goal of bringing China-EU trade to $ 1 trillion by 2020.

  This is no low-hanging fruit and we need to jump to reach it, but I am confident we can attain that goal. The agenda will definitely provide more opportunities for economic and trade collaboration between China and Europe, including the UK.

  China will, as always, firmly support Europe's integration process. A united, stable and prosperous Europe is in the interest of the world and of China. The growth of mutually beneficial business ties between China and Europe will not only bring benefits to both sides; it will also create brighter prospects for China-Europe relations. This should be a win-win endeavour.

  In a couple of days, I will pay my second visit of the year to Europe and will meet prime ministers of 16 central and eastern European countries in Bucharest, where we will explore ways to boost co-operation.

  There is great potential for expanding co-operation between China and these countries and I look forward to working together with my colleagues from these nations to create a new impetus for developing our mutual relations.

  The world economic recovery remains bumpy and fragile. To meet this common challenge, we need to continue to work together and help each other; at the same time, we also need to keep our own houses in order.

  I am pleased to see that many European countries are leaving recession behind them and the EU economy is being put on a more stable footing; China also has a good report card for its economy.

  At the beginning of this year, the tough, complex situation, both domestically and internationally, placed mounting downward pressure on the Chinese economy. Some were predicting, as reported overseas, a hard landing for the Chinese economy and some even claimed it would go bust.

  We faced up to that pressure and stuck to the policy of not allowing either the deficit to grow or monetary expansion or contraction. Instead, we adopted a holistic approach based on innovative macro-economic management.

  Despite a significant slowing down in the growth of government revenue and a "credit crunch" in the middle of this year when the overnight inter-bank rate surged to abnormal levels, we stayed focused and did not inject liquidity into the economy, despite what many expected.

  We have adopted a host of measures to address both current and long-term needs. For example, we have steadily released the dividends of reform, provided a level playing field for businesses -- private capital in particular -- and tapped the potential of the market.

  We generated the internal driving force of economic growth, improved supply and boosted domestic demand through structural adjustment.

  These efforts have enabled us to tide over the difficult period. The Chinese economy is now on a stable footing and stays within a comfortable range, with GDP growth at around 7.5pc and the inflation rate under 3.5pc. It is expected that more than 12m jobs will be created this year.

  We have been responsible not only for our own sake, but also for the sake of the wider world because this will create more opportunities for global growth and contribute to the recovery of the world economy.

  As the world watched closely, the third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee last week adopted a series of decisions aimed at comprehensively deepening reform in China.

  These decisions will not only speed up China's social and economic development, but also help address resources and environmental constraints, as well as uneven development between urban and rural areas and among different regions, thus bringing greater prosperity to the Chinese people and creating new opportunities for our relations with the outside world.

  Chief among these are the growing ties between China and Europe.

  China's modernisation programme will create historic opportunities for mutually beneficial co-operation between the 2bn people of China and Europe, including those in the UK.

  Let us seize this opportunity and deliver the benefits which co-operation can bring to all our peoples.

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