The cooperation between China and the EU, which has gone through impressive development, can offer the powerful boost the world's economy needs at present as major economies are undergoing a slow and painful recovery.

As this year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the EU, Chinese Premier Li Keqiangattended the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting which kicked off on Monday in Brussels, the first since the latest change of EU leadership.

Besides this visit, Chinese President Xi Jinping's landmark visit to the EU headquarters in Belgium and other European countries in March 2014 highlighted the frequent exchange of high-level visits between China and the EU.

Leaders from both sides have attached great importance to bilateral relations.

Obviously, one of the most striking achievements in China-EU cooperation is the enormous success in economic growth and trade.

According to recent figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the value of EU imports of goods from China reached a peak of $338.8 billion in 2014.

As bilateral trade has boomed continuously, cooperation in new technologies, environmental protection, people-to-people exchanges and other fields has also been vigorously promoted by China and the EU.

Moreover, China and the EU, which share common interests in pursuing development, are now eyeing the possibility of integrating their economy promotion plans: the EU's "Juncker Investment Plan" and China's "Li Plan."

The "Juncker Investment Plan," named after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, is meant to unlock investment from the private sector by guaranteeing part of the investment with money from the EU budget and the European Investment Bank.

The plan aims to raise 315 billion euros ($352 billion), which will be spent on infrastructure projects that will kickstart the EU's economy.

China's "Li Plan," on the other hand, is the Chinese premier's vision of international cooperation on production capacity.

The complementarity of the two plans is distinctly recognizable: China needs markets to release its surplus production capacity and the EU needs investment, especially in infrastructure, to jumpstart its sluggish economy.

Now both China and the EU are facing new challenges. While China is trying to adapt to the "New Normal," the EU's economy is stuck in a slow recovery as Greece may still default on its sovereign debt and leave the eurozone.

Considering the contributions China and the EU have made to global economic growth, close cooperation between them will certainly boost the global economy.

This is a commentary from the Xinhua News Agency. The article first appeared on Xinhua. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn