On the afternoon of June 29 local time, Premier Li Keqiang, together with President Donald Tusk of the European Council and President Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission, chaired the 17th China-EU Leaders’ Meeting at the headquarters of the European Council in Brussels.

Li Keqiang expressed that since the establishment of the diplomatic relations 40 years ago, China and the EU have witnessed the constant progress in their relations with cooperation in bilateral, regional and global level being increasingly deepened and mutual trust being continuously enhanced. China and the EU share similar development concepts and amicable people-to-people and cultural exchanges and should follow the trend and join hands for progress and transcendence in a move to open up a new prospect for China-EU relations.

First, hold on to the strategic direction of China-EU relations. We should always view each other from a strategic and global perspective, together advocate the concepts of peace, development, openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation and expand converging points of common interests thus push China-EU relations for sustained, sound and stable development and to new levels.

Second, open up new areas in bilateral cooperation and effectively connect initiatives such as Belt and Road as well as international production capacity cooperation with the investment plan for Europe in an effort to promote connectivity and economic growth and jointly develop the third-party market.

Third, continuously communicate with, learn from and support each other. China always supports the European integration construction while the EU always supports China’s reform, opening-up and modernization process. Under the new circumstances, China and the EU should learn from each other’s experience, enhance dialogue and communication in all fields, intensify mutual recognition and understanding and push sustained economic and social development.

Fourth, facilitate personnel exchanges. China allowed the EU to set up visa centers in 15 Chinese cities that do not have embassies or consulates for EU member nations to facilitate visa application to Europe for more Chinese citizens. It is hoped that both sides could take more measures to facilitate business, tourist and student visa issuing, thus promoting bilateral personnel exchanges and consolidating the public opinion foundation for bilateral relations.

Fifth, join efforts to offer public goods needed globally. World development can not be achieved without a peaceful international environment and a stable regional environment. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the UN, China and Europe, as participators and contributors of the post-war international order, should take the lead in firmly following the purposes and principles of the UN Charter to push world peace and stability. China will also work with the EU to address global challenges such as climate change.

Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to the suggestions put forward by Li Keqiang on further developing bilateral relations. They said that China is not only a highly interdependent economic partner of the EU but also its political partner in jointly coping with global issues. The EU will, together with China, expand practical cooperation in all sectors, push employment and economic growth, intensify communication and coordination in multilateral arenas such as the UN, strengthen cooperation in such areas as handling climate change, poverty reduction as well as international peace and security, and strive to succeed in global efforts including the Climate Change Conference in Paris and the post-2015 development agenda.

After the meeting, Li Keqiang, along with Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents covering such areas as urbanization, infrastructure construction, science, technology, intellectual property rights, customs and quality inspection. Both sides also issued the joint statement on the 17th China-EU Leaders’ Meeting, the joint statement on climate change between China and the EU as well as the report on China-EU regional policy cooperation 2006-2015.