Premier Li Keqiang Meets the Press: Full Transcript of Questions and Answers

Spanish News Agency EFE: The trade war with the United States, in case that continues, could represent an opportunity to improve the relationship between Europe and China, or will only have negative effects. And in any case, what do you expect of the relationship between Europe and China this year?

Premier Li: The China-US trade friction is an issue between China and the United States. We will not exploit any third party. We will not target or hurt the interest of any third party. For China and the EU, China is the largest developing country in the world, the EU the largest union of developed countries in the world. And both are important poles in the multi-polar world. A growing China-EU relationship serves the interests of both China and the EU and the world at large.

China and the EU are each other’s biggest trading partner. There has been cooperation as well as frictions in our relationship. Over the years, we have gained good experience in managing our differences and frictions and I believe such experience should continue to be applied. One very important experience is to deepen our mutual trust. The two sides are now advancing negotiations on an investment agreement. The purpose is to further facilitate the two-way flow of our investment to see that the two sides will benefit on an equal footing from this agreement. I believe that we need to view each other’s development with an open mind and continue to properly handle our differences in the course of pursuing cooperation for continued, steady growth of our relationship. Next month, I am going to visit the EU Headquarters and host the next round of China-EU Summit with the EU leaders. I hope that both sides will view this relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, and continue to show mutual respect, deepen our mutual understanding and advance cooperation in joint pursuit of sustained, healthy growth of our ties.