Dialogue key for China, EU relations

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has underlined the importance of dialogue and cooperation for China and the European Union to deepen mutual understanding as the China-EU relationship suffers difficulties after Beijing and Brussels traded sanctions over so-called human rights issues in China.

The current difficult situation of China-EU ties is not what China wishes to see and it also goes against the fundamental and long-term interests of both sides, Wang said on Monday as he met the media with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto after a bilateral meeting in Guiyang, Guizhou province.

Szijjarto and the foreign ministers of Poland, Serbia and Ireland paid successive visits to China from Saturday to Monday and had bilateral talks with Wang.

Wang said the first face-to-face meetings between Chinese and European foreign ministers this year were "a strategic communication between China and the EU in the face of the new international situations and challenges".

He said they reached a broad consensus that strengthening dialogue and cooperation in a post-pandemic world should be the common choice of China and European countries.

Noting that current challenges in China-EU relations deserve attention and should be calmly reflected upon, Wang said the ministers agreed that the correct approach should be to conduct constructive dialogue, dispel misunderstandings and focus on mutually beneficial cooperation so as to promote the healthy and stable development of the relationship.

Wang said more and more rational voices in Europe are calling on both sides to strengthen communications, overcome obstacles and renew their cooperation.

As two important poles in a multipolar world, China and the EU enjoy huge demand for cooperation and no one can separate from the other, he said.

In the past few years, China and the EU have upheld multilateralism with practical deeds, he said, urging the two sides to jointly safeguard and practice true multilateralism, improve global governance and build a community with a shared future for humanity in a post-pandemic world with more complex and diverse challenges.

Cui Hongjian, director of the European studies department at the China Institute of International Studies, said the visits by the four ministers to China demonstrate the strong self-repairing capability of the China-EU relationship.

"Disputes and conflicts are not the normal state of the China-EU relationship and the real vitality of this relationship lies in cooperation," Cui told Global Times.