EC chief Barosso in China for talks on arms embargo
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-14 13:24

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso says the bloc is deeply committed to enhancing its relationship with China as he arrived for talks set to touch on the EU arms embargo.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso says the bloc is deeply committed to enhancing its relationship with China as he arrived for talks set to touch on the EU arms embargo. [AFP]

Barroso is making his first visit to the mainland on a four-day trip that takes him to Beijing and Shanghai as well as Hong Kong and Macau. He has talks scheduled with Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao.

"The EU is deeply committed to developing its strategic partnership with China," he said in a statement.

"Our challenge now is to understand China's dramatic re-emergence, to learn to work better with this tremendous country and seize the opportunities provided by its unprecedented growth.

"It is in China's and Europe's interest to build a partnership strong enough to deal with the global challenges we face."

The European Union has just surpassed the United States to become China's largest trading partner while China is now the EU's second largest.

While building relations will be a key focus, issues such as the removal of a 16-year-old arms embargo and anti-terrorism cooperation will also be discussed.

"China and Europe also stand to gain from upgrading our political relations in vital areas such as human rights, non proliferation, anti-terrorism and migration," he said.

European leaders, in an initiative led by France and Germany, agreed in December to draft an accord on scrapping the embargo imposed in 1989.

But the move lost steam amid fierce opposition from the United States. The Chinese foreign ministry said China's bid to be recognized as a market economy would be on the agenda. Such a status would help it avoid punitive anti-dumping measures.

However it appears that little progress will be made in this area with the European Union's executive commission Wednesday saying it had checked if China met the criteria, but so far it had not.

"To my knowledge this is not the case for the time being and this is an ongoing process," spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail told journalists in Brussels.

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