12 Feb; Beijing: EU Ambassador, Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut announces the celebratory year of the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the European Union and China. (PDO/Huang Jin)

EU Ambassador Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut held a press conference this Thursday in the EU delegation to announce the celebratory year of the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the European Union and China.

During the conference, Schweisgut referred to the great achievements in China-EU relations after the establishment of diplomatic ties since 1975. He said: "It shows that we have become truly comprehensive and global partners. There are a lot of things China and the European Union can do together, and not so many things the world can achieve without this partnership."

The EU and China established diplomatic relations in May 1975. The 40-year-old EU-China relationship initially developed in the framework of economic cooperation, with the EU- China agreement on trade and economic cooperation adopted in 1985. Cooperation in this area was consolidated by the High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue in 2009, which became the first pillar of the China-EU relationship.

Today, The EU is China's biggest trading partner: the total combined value of trade in goods was €428.4bn in 2013. China is the EU's second biggest trading partner after the US in combined trade value; at the same time China is the largest exporter to the EU.

The EU-China Strategic Partnership, launched in 2003 and upgraded to a 'Comprehensive' Strategic Partnership in 2013, has continued to develop and diversify from its economic focus. At the 16th EU-China Summit in November 2013, the EU-China 2020 Agenda for Cooperation was adopted, which constitutes the framework for EU-China relations until 2020. It has identified four main areas of engagement to bring the EU-China strategic relationship to a new level: peace, prosperity, suitable development, and people-to-people exchanges.

During the 40th year of China-EU diplomatic ties, China and the EU will hold a new round of meetings between China and EU leaders. The two sides are working on the possible visit of the new leadership of the EU to China. A series of celebrations will be held by both sides as well. "The EU will hold a series of activities in the fields of economy, trade, culture, education and youth, which will highlight EU-China relations this year," said Schweisgut.