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Further cooperation between Chinese and European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would make both stronger, said European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson on Thursday.

Mandelson made the remarks in a speech at the opening ceremony of the EU-China Partnership 2006 held on Thursday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

SMEs account for 99 percent of the total number of firms in EU countries and 75 percent in China. They'll play a vital role in future trade between China and European countries, Mandelson said.

He expressed a keen interest in securing greater access to the Chinese market for the EU's financial-service providers and SMEs. "Our main concern is to keep Europe open to China and China to Europe. That is the way we can all benefit from growing trade opportunities," Mandelson said.

"Those trade opportunities are being created by SMEs, providing jobs for people in both Europe and China. We must increase our advice, our help and our support to SMEs to do more business together," he said. "We'd like to hear encouragement from Chinese leaders to do more in the future," he said.

Europe's trade links with China are growing faster than any other bilateral trade relationship in the world with the volume doubling over the past five years. The EU is China's largest export market and China is becoming a large recipient of European imports.

"China is driving us to compete harder than ever before,” Mandelson said. “But it's also a large and growing market for the things that European firms produce best. Globalization and progressive liberalization that we associate with globalization is also a vital engine for creating new jobs as China has demonstrated."

Wan Jifei, Chairman of the China International Trade Promotion Committee, said trade fairs were essential to establishing and developing economic relations between Europe and China.

"SMEs are driving forces in economic development due to their flexibility and creativity," he said, urging firms to strengthen cooperation in the sectors of high-technology, energy and environmental protection.

Chinese companies should attend international trade fairs to meet overseas firms and gain access to international markets, said Giorgio Magistrelli, secretary general of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.

Trade fairs are a platform for information exchange and dialogue and an opportunity for Chinese SMEs to find European partners and enter the European market, he said. The EU-China Partnership 2006 is the largest event in the history of Sino-EU economic cooperation. Over 500 Chinese enterprises and more than 400 European companies are participating.

During the two-day event nearly 1,000 SMEs will hold some 5,000 "speed-dating dialogues" to establish trade links.

The trade fair is jointly sponsored by the European Commission, the China Council for Promotion of International Trade and the Sichuan provincial government. The EU-China Partnership conferences have brought together Chinese and European SMEs since 2002. About 30 percent of the contracts initiated at the conferences have resulted in new commercial ventures.

The China-EU joint economic and trade committee held its 21st session in Beijing two days ago. The two reached consensus in eight sectors including cooperating on IPR protection, encouraging collaboration between small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthening high-level dialogue and settling disputes through talks.

During the session China and the EU also signed three memos of understanding aiming to strengthen cooperation in IPR protection and establish a special team to discuss bilateral trade.

Mandelson told Xinhua that both sides were satisfied with the results of the meeting while reiterating some concerns about market access, investment conditions in the telecom and construction design sectors.

Although there were still challenges to face China had made good progress in opening its markets and fulfilling its WTO obligations since becoming a member of that body in 2001, Mandelson observed.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)