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Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu, attending the conference "The Future of EU - China Relations: Looking Beyond the Horizon!", pointed out that EU - Asia interconnectivity has been a priority of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, emphasizing also that the promotion of links between the EU, member countries and China is one of Romania's contributions to the global promotion of multilateralism.
"We started our term at the Presidency [of the EU Council] at the informal level of foreign ministers, where we discussed the subject of connectivity and the strategy of the EU with China, and here we are today, as we near the end of our term, discussing the same subject, yet at an academic level, with the participation of universities, think tank centers and other experts. Our point of view is obviously that both the European Union and China are internationally highly important partners. Connectivity between them, the connection between EU member countries, the European Union and China is actually a contribution we make to promoting multilateralism in the world," Melescanu said in a press statement on the occasion of the conference.
President of the Romanian Academy Ioan-Aurel Pop spoke about the Academy's contribution to fostering Romania - China relations.
"The Romanian Academy was founded in 1866 and one of its goals has been that of promoting international relations. I know you are here to talk about the future, not about the past, but we need to know that there is no future without a present and there is no present without the past. I am very glad that today's discussion on the future of EU-China relations is based on a very strong and rich tradition," said Ioan-Aurel Pop.
Yang Xiaoguang, Deputy Director general with China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that in the current economic context, the development of EU - China relations becomes more important than ever.
The EU and China are two strategic forces, two important actors, two old civilizations. Developing the relationship with the EU is one of the top priorities of the Chinese diplomacy. China's President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Keqiang and other Chinese leaders have this year visited Europe for the first time, and a number of European leaders are visiting China. Such frequent, result-producing high-level diplomatic meetings have been a strong political impetus for our bilateral relations. In the current context, I believe that developing EU - China relations is more important than ever. In the first place, multilateralism is facing important challenges. (...) Secondly, the global economic outlook is not promising: the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have several times reduced their growth estimates for the world economy. The economies of China and the EU account together for almost 40 percent of the global production. When the EU and China join their efforts, they can energize world trade, promote economic growth and bring hope and prosperity to the world, Yang Xiaoguang said.
Zoltan Martinusz, Director with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, said that in the past decade China's economic power and political influence have grown at an unprecedented pace.
