Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming and European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolo addressed the launching ceremony of the Phase II of EU-China Trade Project (hereinafter referred as “Project”) respectively.

Minister Chen expressed his appreciations for the successful completion of the Project Phase I and EU assistance to China. It helped raise China's capabilities in dealing with trade-related issues and deepened China-EU trade relations. The year 2011 is the 10th anniversary for China’s accession into the WTO. Chen believed that the implementation of the second phase of the Project would play an active role in further participating into the world trade and accelerating the sustainable development for China.

Chen said that China and EU are trading partners for each other and bilateral trade has increased dramatically in recent years. The EU is now China's largest trading partner and export market, important source of foreign capital and provider of technologies. China is the EU's second-largest trading partner and export market. In the two years when international financial crisis worst hit the world, China-EU trade and economic cooperation remained in sound development momentum and helped get over the economic crisis for the two sides.

Chen also stated that China is the largest developing country in the world and the EU is the regional union that enjoys the most powerful economy, the richest experiences in development and the highest level of integration. China-EU cooperation will be conducive to promoting the global economic recovery, boosting the global economy into an overall, sustainable and balanced development way, and making important contributions to jointly coping with the global challenges and promoting the world peace and development.

Commissioner Ciolo said that the EU-China Trade Project is the third major EU-China trade related technical assistance project since 2000 and one of the EU’s largest bilateral assistance projects worldwide. In next 5 years, according to the sectors focused by China’s 12th Five-Year-Plan, the EU will deepen cooperation with China in sectors of service trade, technical trade barriers, agriculture, food safety, and Customs supervision, continue supporting China to improve their trade and economic laws and regulations, further promote the mutual understanding and bilateral trade and economic development.

Before the ceremony, Minister Chen held talks with Commissioner Ciolo. The two sides had in-depth exchanges of views on China-EU trade of agricultural products, negotiations on China-EU Cooperation Agreement on Geographic Indication, and WTO Doha Round Negotiations, especially negations on agriculture.

In 2004, the European Commission and the Ministry of Commerce of China jointly sponsored the EU-China Trade Project, aiming to promote bilateral trade development, strengthen the mutual understanding, and push forward the reform and improvement of institutions, policies and management systems related to trade. The Project covers various sectors, such as trade, judicature, governance, agriculture, environmental protection, energy, education, health and social security, and will be implemented by means of workshop, training seminar, special subject research, inspection and practice.