An ambitious plan for cooperation in regional policy between China and the 25-member European Union (EU) was agreed on Tuesday between senior officials.??

EU Regional Policy Commissioner, Danuta Hubner, met in Brussels with Vice-Minister Du Ying from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China. The objective was to progress the EU-China regional policy dialogue launched last May in Beijing.

A press release issued by the European Commission (EC) said both parties agreed on strengthening bilateral cooperation and on the exchange of information on policies contributing to growth, competitiveness and employment.

According to EC spokeswoman, Ana-Paula Laissy, three main actions were agreed upon for further cooperation in 2007--a high level seminar in Brussels to bring together relevant Chinese and EU stakeholders in regional policy fields; a comprehensive study on the definition of Chinese regions, regional statistics and multi-level governance and the establishment of partnership mechanisms and the promotion of exchanges between officials.

"Today we agreed on concrete ways for further cooperation in two fields crucial for both sides-- multi-level governance and partnership and definition of regions and regional statistics," said Commissioner Hubner after the meeting.

"The dialogue will help both parties in our common challenge of promoting balanced regional economic development," she added. The Commissioner said a high level seminar would be held in Brussels in mid 2007.

Minister Du explained after the meeting that both sides agreed to take concrete actions to implement the joint statement issued by Chinese and EU leaders on regional policy cooperation. The move would further deepen the mechanism construction on bilateral cooperation, he added.

At the China-EU summit, in The Hague of the Netherlands in December 2004, China and the EU launched the cooperation on regional policy initiative. Both identified balanced development and regional policy as key areas in which both should share information and experience.

Accordingly, the Memorandum of Understanding signed last May in Beijing between the (NDRC) and the EC aims to promote mutual understanding and bilateral cooperation in the field of regional policy and to strengthen information exchange.?

The NDRC has a key role in the Chinese policy-making system. It's a macroeconomic management government department which formulates policies for economic and social development, maintains a balance of economic aggregates and guides the overall economic system restructuring.

The NDRC develops national economic strategies, long-term economic plans and annual proposals and reports on the national economy and social development for the National People's Congress.

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2006)