BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) — As agreed between China and the EU, and at the invitation of Vice Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will hold the fifth China-EU High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue at EU headquarters in Brussels and visit Luxembourg from June 17 to 21.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the announcement on Friday.
China and Europe are the world’s two major forces, major markets, and major civilizations, Lin told a regular press briefing when answering a follow-up question about Ding’s visit to Europe, noting that China-EU relations have an impact on global peace, stability, development and prosperity.
Lin said China always views its relations with the EU from a strategic height and long-term perspective, and regards Europe as an important priority for China’s major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and also as an important partner for achieving Chinese modernization. China and the EU share extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation in green development, and have maintained good dialogue and cooperation in this regard, he added.
Since the establishment of the China-EU High-Level Environment and Climate Dialogue in 2020, the two sides have successfully held four rounds of dialogue, which has played a positive role in jointly addressing global challenges in environment and climate governance, strengthening communication and coordination on bilateral and multilateral policies, and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, Lin said.
Lin said that during the upcoming trip, Ding will co-chair the fifth high-level dialogue with Executive Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic.
“China stands ready to work with the EU to act on the important common understandings reached by the leaders of the two sides, and through this dialogue, broaden the areas of cooperation, explore new collaboration models and upgrade the level of cooperation,” said Lin, adding that China hopes to deepen and solidify the green partnership with the EU.
In Luxembourg, Ding will meet with Luxembourg’s leaders and attend the Second Zhengzhou-Luxembourg “Air Silk Road” Forum for International Cooperation, Lin said.
Noting that Luxembourg is a founding member of the EU and China’s friendly cooperation partner in Europe, Lin said since the establishment of diplomatic ties over 50 years ago, the two countries have respected each other, engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly promoted development.
Lin added that in recent years, China and Luxembourg have achieved new progress in cooperation in areas such as finance and air freight. Since the Zhengzhou-Luxembourg “Air Silk Road” started operation, it has flown large amounts of goods between China and Europe, brought tangible benefits to the people of China, Luxembourg and the rest of Europe, and helped keep global industrial and supply chains stable, he said.
China looks to work with Luxembourg through this visit to step up dialogue and communication, strengthen mutual understanding and trust, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and further advance the bilateral relations, the spokesperson said. ■