Wang Ke
China.org.cn staff reporter

EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton today called for the EU and China to build greater confidence in one another in order to develop a deep and lasting economic partnership.

At a speech at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, Commissioner Catherine Ashton said that both sides should work on outstanding issues in order to strengthen a bilateral trade relationship that is worth more than EUR 300 billion a year.

She said, "Confidence is vital because I firmly believe that the future of international trade lies in relationships, rather than in the mathematical formulae used to crunch tariffs in the past."

Ashton emphasized that, as trade frictions more and more result from non-tariff barriers, regulatory differences and intellectual property infringement rather than tariffs, building strong relationships between trading partners will become increasingly important to keep trade flowing.

She pledged that the EU would continue to work together with China to complete the Doha Round of world trade talks.

"We need to communicate – to speak frankly – to exchange ideas and to recognize there have been and will be some difficult moments as our relationship matures," she said.

While the trading relationship between the EU and China remains strong, investment flows are still modest, and have actually been decreasing in recent years. Ashton said she believes it is a shared problem that the two sides need to tackle to underpin future growth.

Later on Wednesday, Commissioner Ashton was due to visit the China IPR SME Helpdesk, a project funded by the EU that provides expert advice on intellectual property to companies investing in or trading with China.

(China.org.cn September 9, 2009)