EU, China to meet

The EU and China will hold their 14th Summit on Tuesday 11 October in the mainland's northern city of Tianjin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday. The EU will be represented by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council. The People's Republic of China will be represented by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. This Summit will provide an opportunity to strengthen the strategic dialogue between the EU and China and to discuss a number of issues, in particular the strategic financial, trade, development and cultural bilateral ties. The first EU-China Summit took place in 1998, in London (during the UK Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU).   Ever since, they have been held on an annual basis, alternating between Beijing and the country currently hosting the EU Presidency.  In recent years, Joint Statements have been issued, setting out agreed policy positions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and international/ global issues. In January 2007, negotiations were launched on a new EU-China Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), intending to reflect the full breadth and depth of the EU China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.