Premier Li Keqiang says China and the European Union must strike a deal soon to drive a global economic recovery.

Li: China and eu need to forge deal for economy to bounce back

China and the European Union must work toward a comprehensive, balanced and high-level bilateral investment agreement before the end of this year to drive a global economic recovery, Premier Li Keqiang said.

Li’s remarks came as he cochaired the 22nd China-European Union leaders’ meeting with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen via video link on Monday.

Leaders from both sides noted progress on investment talks and looked forward to reaching an agreement at a highly ambitious level, according to a press release issued after the meeting.

Both sides agreed to make the utmost efforts to reach consensus over rules for fair competition, it said.

China and the EU, as the world’s major economies and both facing challenges from the pandemic, must step up coordination in macroeconomic policies and safeguard the stability of industry and supply chains to provide impetus for global economic recovery, he said.

Li reiterated China’s commitment to expanding opening-up and creating a market-oriented, law-based and internationalised business environment, saying that he hoped the EU side could also open up its trading and investment markets and relax restrictions on exports to China.

He noted that the cooperation and consensus between China and the EU, as comprehensive strategic partners, had far outweighed competition and differences. Bilateral cooperation, which set the tone for 45 years of diplomatic relations, had increased the wellbeing of both peoples and injected more stability into a complicated and changing world, he said.

China had always supported the European integration process and hoped to see a Europe that was united and prosperous, he said.

He urged both sides to see bilateral relations from a long-term perspective, uphold the positioning of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, bolster mutual understanding through enhanced dialogue and enable win-win outcomes from more in-depth cooperation.