President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and China’s Premier Li Keqiang witnessed the signature of 12 new partnerships between Chinese and EU private and public entities in the field of urbanization. The signature ceremony took place on 13 July, on the sidelines of the EU-China Summit.

This third batch of partnerships signals a step forward in the implementation of the EU-China Sustainable Urbanization Partnership, launched at the highest level in 2012. Most of these partnerships involve EU companies specialized in the improvement of the urban environment, on the one hand, and Chinese local authorities who wish to rely on this expertise in their efforts to develop a more sustainable approach to urbanization, on the other.

The organization of this event reflects the EU’s strong commitment to support EU business in sectors related to urbanization (which are often SMEs) to access the Chinese market. This endeavor is carried out in close collaboration with EU member states: the Ambassadors of Sweden, Lars Fredén, and Italy, Ettore Francesco Sequi, as well as representatives of the Embassies of the Netherlands and Austria, attended the signing ceremony, according to the website of the Delegation of the European Union to China.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker gave a press conference for the domestic and foreign press on July 13 at the Embassy of the Delegation of the European Union to China in Beijing. They were introduced by Ambassador Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut. Follow the links to view the relevant segments of the press conference:

Introduction by EU Ambassador to China Mr. Schweisgut

Remarks by President Tusk

Remarks by President Juncker

Q&A

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended the 11thAsia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on July 15 in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders also attended. Premier Li Keqiang said he expected growing cooperation among Asian and European nations guided by pragmatism. In elaborating on his proposal of “renovating the Euro-Asia cooperation concept”, Li urged ASEM members to foster an awareness of a community of shared responsibilities and destinies, to effectively counteract challenges besetting Asia and Europe. At the summit, Li suggested ASEM members engage in dialogue and cooperation, and prevent new sources of tumult from occurring in their own regions so as to safeguard world peace and regional stability. The global community should advocate unity and coordination, he said, and discard a Cold War mentality and zero-sum game. The Premier said China opposed any country distorting international law and applying a double standard in addressing disparities and disputes.

Link to Remarks by Premier Li Keqiang

Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, on July 13, 2016 gave a speech at the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing (CASS).

Mrs. Mogherini said that it was the first occasion to present the EU’s Global Strategy after introducing it to the European Council, the European Union Heads of State and Government, at the end of June. The High Representative was in Beijing on the occasion of the EU-China Summit. “This is a very intense and complex moment both for our European Union and for our world. And in a moment like this, I really appreciate this exchange of views with an audience like this one, like yours,” Mogherini said. Besides the Global Strategy, she also shared a few thoughts on the new EU Strategy on EU-China relations. She also said it was important “to try and look at Europe from the outside, through your eyes,” because “our friends and partners around the world see the value of our Union much better than we Europeans do”.

Link to the full text of Vice President and High Representative Federica Mogherini’s speech

During a four-day visit to China, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström spoke to students at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing. She stressed the enormous benefits that the EU-China relationship had brought to both sides and argued that in addressing their own major challenges – a sustained economic recovery across the EU and reform and opening up in China – both sides would benefit each other as well as their own citizens.

She highlighted a number of concerns on the lack of a level playing field for EU firms doing business in and with China, stressed the potential of negotiations for an EU China Investment Agreement and argued for joint EU and Chinese leadership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Commissioner’s visit to Beijing follows meetings in Shanghai for the G20 meeting of trade ministers, where she and other representatives of the world’s leading economies stressed the importance of trade and investment for global growth and employment and recommitted to their pledge to avoid protectionism.

The Commissioner also participated in the EU-China Summit alongside President Juncker, President Tusk and Vice President Mogherini. In parallel she gave a speech to business leaders at the EU-China Business Summit.

Read the speech at the UIBE in Beijing

Read the speech at the EU-China Business Summit