Senior officials from China and the European Commission pledged
in Brussels on Thursday they will try to complete their talks on
the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) as soon as
possible.
On Thursday, a Chinese delegation headed by Kong Quan, China's
assistant foreign minister, held the first steering meeting on PCA
talks together with their European colleague headed by EC external
relations Director General Eneko Landaburu.
According to Chinese diplomats, the two sides have exchanged
views on the guidance, principles, framework, structure of the PCA
talks, and they have reached consensus.
They also highlighted the significance of signing the PCA and
deepening the EU-China comprehensive strategic partnership.
They vowed to take an active, open and practical approach to
accelerate the negotiation process and finalize the talks as soon
as possible, so as to lay down a solid legal basis for boosting the
China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.
In September 2006, China and the EU agreed to launch the talks
on the PCA. Earlier this year, EU external relations commissioner
Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited China and formally launched the PCA
talks.
(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2007)
