China-EU summit set for May in Prague

By Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-25 07:37

A Sino-EU summit, called off by Beijing after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama last December, will be held in Prague in May, the Czech ambassador to China said Tuesday.

It is the fist time the timeframe and venue of the summit have been spelled out; and Chinese analysts said it's a signal that both sides wish to collaborate in the battle against the global financial crisis.

Chinese officials have not confirmed participation in the summit but during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels on Jan 30, the two sides agreed to hold the 11th Sino-EU summit before the end of June.

Czech Ambassador Vitezslav Grepl said the European bloc, during the annual China-EU Ambassadors' Forum held by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing Tuesday, had expressed its keenness on hosting the summit. He said the final agenda is yet to be confirmed.

The Czech Republic currently holds the rotating EU presidency before passing the baton on to Sweden on July 1.

Swedish Ambassador to China Mikael Lindstrom also confirmed the holding of the summit, adding the Chinese side is, "in principle", agreeable to the meeting.

Bilateral ties suffered a setback after Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama in Poland in early December, forcing China to cancel the summit, scheduled in Lyon, France, the same month.

"It (holding the summit) is symbolic, reflecting the will of both sides to fight the global financial turmoil jointly," Wu Baiyi, an expert on Europe at the CASS, said.

He cited a high-level business delegation, which left for Europe Tuesday, as China's message to the 27-nation bloc to tackle the economic slowdown jointly.

Wu said last year's disagreement has not damaged the sound basis of the Sino-EU relationship.

The EU is China's top trading partner, and trade volume between the two sides surpassed $400 billion last year, according to Chinese Customs figures.

However, in its annual blue paper on Europe released at Tuesday's forum, the CASS said the EU had become more antagonistic toward China.

The nation's rapid economic growth has sparked "fear" among Europeans, the paper, titled "the Changing Image of China in European Union", said.

Europeans fear that China is taking away the economic advantages they enjoyed, it added.

The paper pointed out that some Europeans are biased against China in terms of ideology.

"Both China and the EU should deal with future ties on a strategic level," said Mei Zhaorong, China's former ambassador to Germany.

Each other's core interests, such as territorial integrity, should be respected, he added, noting the "Cold War mentality" of some European countries must be abandoned.