Brussels, 22/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Beijing on 14 October 2015, Qu Dongyu, vice-minister of agriculture of the People's Republic of China, and Karmenu Vella, European commissioner for environment, maritime affairs and fisheries, exchanged views on reinforcing cooperation on fisheries, a European Commission press release published on Thursday 22 October states.
Both sides expressed satisfaction at the decision to establish an EU-China working group on illegal (IUU) fishing issues and agreed to hold the group's first meeting in the first half of 2016. They agreed that tackling illegal fishing was one of the most important bilateral and multilateral priorities and stressed that all countries must fulfil their international obligations as flag, coastal, port or market states. The two sides reaffirmed their will to enhance governance of the regional fisheries management organisations.
Commissioner Vella presented the reformed EU common fisheries policy (CFP). Vice Minister Qu Dongyu gave a “positive appraisal” of the cooperation on fisheries between the EU and China and pointed out that there is “great potential” for such cooperation. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)