The 16th China-EU Summit was held in Beijing from November 20 to 21, 2013. On November 19, Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao gave an interview to the China Central Television (CCTV). The records are as follows:

First, the 16th China-EU Summit is to be held in Beijing soon. What is the significance of the Summit? What are your expectations for the future development of the China-Europe relations?

China and the EU are two important powers in the international arena, and the China-EU relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the world. The strengthening of China-EU cooperation not only serves the fundamental interests of both sides but also conduces to the world peace and prosperity. The 16th China-EU Summit coincides with the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and serves as an important link between the past and the future.

Currently, China and the EU are both in their crucial development stages. The Communist Party of China (CPC) recently held the third Plenary Session of 18th Central Committee and made overall arrangements to comprehensively deepen the reform. China is marching towards the Chinese dream of great revitalization of the Chinese nation and is working hard to achieve the "two centenary goals". The EU is also implementing the "Europe 2020" strategy by striving to readjust economic structure, seeking economic growth and promoting employment. To formulate a medium and long term development target for the China-EU relations meets the needs of both sides.

This Summit will further concentrate the political consensus that China and the EU will commit to deepening and developing the comprehensive strategic partnership from a strategic viewpoint, make an overall plan for the China-EU cooperation in the next decade conduct in-depth exchanges on the cooperation in many fields such as economy, trade and investment, technology innovation and urbanization and sign a series of cooperation agreements. The two sides will also exchange views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Looking to the future, China and the EU will combine the two great courses together in the next decade, namely the construction of the "Four New-Formed Modernization" of China and the revitalization of the European economy, further enhance the understanding and mutual trust between China and the EU promote practical cooperation, cope with divergences properly, bring the China-EU relations to a higher level, benefiting the two peoples even people all over the world.

Second, since the beginning of this year, the friction on photovoltaic products has attracted great attention from all walks of life. What is your opinion on the problems that appeared in the China-EU relations?

State-to-state relationship is just like the relationship between people, and countries not only arrive at consensuses, but also have differences. China and Europe have different historical and cultural traditions, social systems, and levels of economic development; therefore it is normal for the two to have divergences and friction on some issues. Whether the two sides can correctly view and properly cope with the problems in the bilateral relationship depends on the following two points:

Firstly, look at the mainstream in the China-Europe relations. In the two-thousand-year history of China-Europe exchanges and since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU over the past 30-odd years, friendship and cooperation have always been mainstream for the bilateral relations. Most of the problems arisen have been addressed step by step in the development course of the relations between the two sides.

Secondly, look at the way to handle the problems. When faced with problems, we choose to either quarrel with each other endlessly, or to settle them through peaceful discussions. Over the past three decades, the political disagreements between China and Europe did not lead to confrontation, and the conflicts of interests did not trigger a trade war. This shows that the China-EU cooperation is in line with the aspirations of the two peoples. The two sides have the capacity and wisdom to properly address problems through dialogue and consultation.

The future development of China-EU relations will not be smooth sailing. The Chinese government will firmly follow the overall picture of the China-EU relations, promote the continuous development of the China-EU relations, and uncompromisingly safeguard the national interests including our interests in development and legitimate interests of the enterprises.

I believe that as long as China and the EU continue to uphold the principles of mutual respect, treating each other as equals, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and win-win cooperation, and promote unswervingly practical cooperation, they will effectively manage and control problems and differences, gradually dissolve problems and go beyond their differences in the process of development of the China-EU relations, so as to continuously advance the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and benefit the peoples of both sides.

After the China-EU Summit, Premier Li Keqiang will attend the China-Central and Eastern Europe leaders' meeting in Romania. What is the relationship between China-EU cooperation and the cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries?

There are sixteen countries in Central and Eastern Europe, eleven of which are member states of the EU and the other five are candidate members or associated countries of the EU. The Central and Eastern European countries cover one third of the area of Europe, with a population of 160 million. Currently, the total volume of trade with China reaches merely 50 billion USD and the total investment towards China is less than 1.2 billion USD, falling behind in comparison with some other countries and regions in Europe.

China and the Central and Eastern European countries have enjoyed traditional friendly relations. These countries exhibit a synchronous level of development and strong economic complementarities with China. Both sides are willing and motivated to develop mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. The Central and Eastern European countries are the potential power houses for European economic development. And practical cooperation between China and these countries will be a growth point of the overall China-EU cooperation.

China supports the European integration in the hope that Europe will prosper, develop and achieve solidarity. The cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries is a significant part of the China- EU relations; the two complement and promote with each other. The cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries is not only conducive to the promotion of the bilateral relations between China and these countries, but also beneficial to the promotion of the scale and level of China-EU overall cooperation, and to the development of China, the Central and Eastern European countries, and Europe as a whole.