China to increase imports from Europe

2009-12-1 9:09:01

China will continue to take active measures to increase imports from Europe to address the trade imbalance between China and the European Union (EU), said Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday.

"China does not seek a trade surplus that is beyond a reasonable level, " Wen said when delivering a speech at the closing ceremony of the fifth China-EU Business Summit.

"To address the trade imbalance, China has sent several missions to European countries to promote trade and investment and will continue to take active measures to increase imports from Europe," Wen said.

Stressing the size of China-EU trade in goods cannot reflect the depth and scope of the economic ties, Wen proposed that China and the EU should look at the current trade and its prospects from a strategic and overall perspective.

"We should make the most of our complementarity, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and commit ourselves to not taking protectionist measures against each other, " Wen said.

Wen said China and the EU should increase coordination and consultation in the WTO Doha Round negotiations, and press for a comprehensive and balanced outcome at an early date.

The Premier said China strictly abides by its commitments upon WTO accession. "China has taken active steps to open its market and adopted foreign trade and financial policies consistent with WTO rules."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, also attended the closing ceremony.

The annual business summit, with the theme of "The Green Agenda: Sustaining Growth Beyond the Recovery," focused on how to achieve a sustainable recovery from the global financial crisis, climate change as well as the development of China-EU trade relations.

Running in parallel with the annual China-EU summit, the business summit is recognized as the highest-level platform for exchanges between Chinese and EU business leaders.

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