New paradigm of China-EU partnerships

BEIJING-- China on Wednesday issued a paper defining its policy objectives towards the EU, vowing to build partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization with the EU.

The document -- China's Policy Paper on the EU: Deepen the China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Mutual Benefit and Win-win Cooperation -- blueprints comprehensive bilateral cooperation in the next five to ten years.

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This is the country's second policy paper on the EU, following the first one in November 2003.

According to the paper, on the partnership for peace, China will work with the EU to bring the two major forces closer to pursue peaceful development in a multi-polar world, respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, make the international order and international system more just and equitable, advocate democracy in international relations and create a peaceful, stable, equitable and orderly development environment for all countries.

On the partnership for growth, China is ready to work with the EU to bring the two major markets closer to build a China-EU community of interests, strengthen the bond of interests between the two sides at the global strategic, regional and bilateral levels, carry out win-win cooperation at higher levels and contribute more to the building of an open world economy, it said.

On the partnership for reform, China is willing to work with the EU to better align China's comprehensive deepening of reform with the EU's reform and readjustment, draw upon each other's reform experience, share reform dividends, jointly improve the ability of reform and governance, and actively participate in the formulation and reform of the rules of global governance, said the paper.

On the partnership for civilization, China is ready to work with the EU to bring the two major civilizations in the East and West closer and set an example of different civilizations seeking harmony without uniformity, promoting diversity, learning from each other and enjoying common prosperity, it said.

The paper said given the differences in history, cultural tradition, political system and stage of economic development as well as the increasing competition between China and the EU in some sectors, the two sides have disagreements and frictions on issues of value such as human rights as well as economic and trade issues.

"China believes that these issues should be properly handled through dialogue in the spirit of equality and mutual respect and encourages the EU to move in the same direction," said the paper.

On the cooperation in the political sector, the paper called on both sides to deepen high-level exchanges and political dialogue, and give full play to the role of the China-EU Summit in providing political guidance to the China-EU relations.

The paper called to step up counter-terrorism exchanges and cooperation based on the principle of mutual respect and equal-footed cooperation, oppose "double standards" on counter-terrorism.

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