On January 19, 2023, Ambassador Fu Cong, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, met Stefano Sannino, Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS). They had in-depth exchanges of views on China-EU relations and other issues.

Ambassador Fu said that as the world’s two major forces, markets and civilizations, China and the EU are partners rather than rivals. Their bilateral dialogue and cooperation based on mutual respect and benefit will bring greater stability to the world. A message from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is the continuity and stability of China’s internal and external policies, including China’s policy on the EU. China will continue to view China-EU relations from a strategic and long-term perspective and support EU strategic autonomy, so as to build a healthy bilateral relationship.

Noting the visit of Charles Michel, President of the European Council, to China in December 2022, Ambassador Fu said that the leaders’ talks set a clear direction for the development of China-EU relations, creating new prospects and bringing new impetus to it. Over the past month, Ambassador Fu has had in-depth communication with people from various sectors of the EU. Encouraged by their positive vision for China-EU relations, he is ready to make all-out efforts, together with the EU side, to follow through with the leaders’ consensus, maintain close dialogue and cooperation, uphold multilateralism, and benefit from each other’s opportunities, so that China-EU relations can bear more tangible fruits.

Mr. Sannino welcomed Ambassador Fu for assuming the new role and spoke positively of his effective work over the past month. He noted that the EU attaches great importance to developing relations with China and expressed the readiness of him and the EEAS to work closely with the Chinese Mission to focus more on common interests and concrete cooperation under the leaders’ consensus. He looked forward to seeing both sides enhance mutual understanding and trust through high-level exchanges, interaction and dialogue, deepen communication and coordination on multilateral affairs and international hotspot issues, and manage differences in a constructive manner, to ensure a stable China-EU relationship.

They also exchanged views on the EU’s COVID-19 measures against Chinese visitors, major-country relations and other issues.