China and the Europe Union signed a joint declaration of aviation cooperation here Thursday.  

The declaration recalled bilateral aviation development, especially last year after the EU became the tourist destination for Chinese citizens as well as the biggest trading partner for China.

The seat number in regular flights between China and teh EU reached 5.4 million last year, 20 times that of 1990. The two sides will further discuss bilateral transportation policy, infrastructure and investment, aviation safety and security policy, as well as aviation technology and enterprise cooperation.

The two sides also confirmed the willingness to further carry out aviation cooperation talks. They agreed relevant law issues will be a priority topic in bilateral transportation accords and can only be solved through negotiation. The two sides will hold meetings in the fourth quarter of the year to discuss cooperation on safety, security and air traffic control, according to the declaration.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2005)