European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said Tuesday that EU needs to know more about China as for the latter's phase of development, and hopes and goal in this regard.

China is progressing rapidly and has huge potential of the future, said Ashton, who emphasized that it was also important to better understand what China is up to so that EU could efficiently engage itself with China's process of development.

China absolutely needs further development and EU has long been providing the country with support, said Ashton who is now visiting this land-locked Chinese province of Guizhou.

On Tuesday, Ashton and her entourage visited a village of the ethnic Miao group in the suburbs of Guiyang, capital of Guizhou. Around the village, they called on rural families, one primary school, and donated some items of stationery to the school.

"I have seen the beauty of Beijing and the splendor of Shanghai, and I have the great opportunity to see this part of China," Ashton said, adding "it is better to see for myself rather than to hear for many times."

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying, who is accompanying Ashton on the visit to Guizhou, said she hoped that the visit could help guests of EU better understand China through seeing the difficulties and problems China is facing, so that they could treat China and its development in a balanced and objective manner.

Ashton and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo will co-chair the China-EU strategic dialogue scheduled to be held Wednesday in Guiyang.

Atop the agenda of Wednesday's dialogue will be EU's views toward China's status quo of development, ways for helping EU know more about China, in addition to issues concerning China-EU relations, said sources with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Before the visit to Guizhou, Ashton had also traveled to Shanghai on east China's seaboard and toured the Shanghai Expo there. After Wednesday's strategic dialogue in Guiyang, Ashton will fly to Beijing where Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will meet with her, and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will hold talks with her.