Beijing to host 7th China-EU economic and trade dialogue

China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday that the 7th China-EU High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue will be held in Beijing on June 25.

The dialogue will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen, MOFCOM spokesperson Gao Feng told a press briefing.

Gao said the dialogue, started in 2007, has been the highest-level economic and trade dialogue between China and the EU and has played an important role in deepening mutual benefit and cooperation.

The upcoming dialogue will highlight topics including global economic governance, trade and investment, innovation-driven development and interconnectivity, according to MOFCOM.

“The dialogue is expected to promote bilateral economic and trade ties to a new stage, inject new impetus to the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, and highlight China and the EU’s commitment to jointly counter unilateralism and protectionism and support a multilateral trade system,” said Gao.

Katainen said the EU is willing to work with China to safeguard free trade rules and multilateral trade mechanisms, and to further promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations.

At the sixth China-EU High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue held in 2016, China and the EU reached consensus on cooperation in the digital economy, third-party market and intellectual property rights.

The two also agreed to further coordinate on macro-policies and work together in developing their economies.

According to official data from MOFCOM, trade volume between China and the EU increased by 7.3 percent year-on-year in the first five months in 2018.