EU could become partner in pursuit of Chinese modernization: senior diplomat

Aerial photo taken on April 6, 2021 shows a view of the automated container terminal of Shanghai's Yangshan Port in east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Fu Cong, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU), said that he hoped the EU could "share the opportunities brought by China's huge market and China's efforts to advance institutional opening up and deepen international cooperation."

BRUSSELS, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- China hopes that the European Union (EU) could become an important partner in China's pursuit of Chinese modernization, said Fu Cong, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU) on Tuesday.

Fu made the remarks when he presented the copy of the Letter of Credence to Thierry Bechet, Chief of Protocol of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Tuesday, according to a press release published by the Chinese Mission to the EU on Wednesday.

This aerial photo shows the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province on July 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

Fu also said that he hoped the EU could "share the opportunities brought by China's huge market and China's efforts to advance institutional opening up and deepen international cooperation."

"China and the EU are two major forces upholding world peace, two big markets promoting shared development, and two great civilizations promoting human progress," said Fu.

Maintaining a positive momentum of bilateral cooperation in the principle of mutual benefit and win-win results serves the common desires of China and the EU and the wider international community, he added.

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 16, 2021 shows the automated production line of a technology company in the Economic Development Zone of Anji County in Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Xia Pengfei/Xinhua)

The ambassador said that China would stay committed to pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, to its foreign policy goals of upholding world peace and promoting common development and to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Fu also said that he and the Chinese Mission stood ready to work with the EU to follow through important agreements reached by the leaders of the two sides, advance China-EU relations and foster friendship between the two peoples.

A staff member works at the State Key Laboratory of Public Big Data at Guizhou University in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

Bechet welcomed Fu as he took up his new role, and said that his division was ready to work closely with the Chinese Mission and jointly pursue new progress in EU-China relations.

Fu arrived in Brussels on Saturday to assume his new role as the head of the Chinese Mission to the EU.