During the visit of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini to Beijing on Wednesday 19 April as part of the seventh meeting of the EU-China strategic dialogue, the EU and China confirmed the importance of their bilateral cooperation on regional and global issues at the current time of great uncertainty.
“We are living clearly in times of growing tensions and geopolitical unpredictability, so our cooperation has never been so important. China and the European Union are global powers: we have a joint responsibility to work together towards a more cooperative, rules-based global order”, Mogherini said after the meeting.
“After [today's] dialogue (...) I can definitely say that we can meet, together, these expectations of a joint EU-China role for improving the conditions of our world and our citizens, and that our strategic partnership has indeed reached an unprecedented level of maturity", she said.
The aim of Mogherini’s visit to China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi was to prepare the next EU-China summit, which is to be held in Brussels on 2 June.
With regard to international issues, Mogherini and Yang spoke at length about the North Korean situation (see other article), the war in Syria and how to actively support the United Nations-led process while working to improve humanitarian access in the country.
“We share the assessment that the process has to be political (...) Only once a credible political transition is underway will we mobilise the necessary resources to help the Syrians on the reconciliation and the reconstruction", Mogherini stated.
The two parties also discussed how to mobilise international support for a peace process in Afghanistan and how to resolve the crisis in Libya. In addition, they talked about how international support could be raised for increased cooperation in Africa, as well as about security and defence issues, and cooperation on counter-terrorism.
On the global level, Mogherini underlined the "joint responsibility" of the EU and China " to work together towards a more cooperative, rules-based global order". She pointed to the Paris Agreement on climate change and to the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to support for the World Trade Organisation to avoid any protectionism, as three areas where China and the EU need "to work closely together".
On the bilateral level, Mogherini spoke to her hosts about the EU's concerns regarding the human rights situation in China, and called for "a frank and constructive dialogue" on this.
Mogherni also underscored the EU's desire to launch talks on visa facilitation and on the fight against irregular migration, to strengthen infrastructure links via the EU-China Connectivity Platform, and to make "substantial progress" on the negotiation of a comprehensive agreement on investment. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)