To promote the prosperity and development of China Europe relations, Ambassador Fu Cong hopes that the EU and member states will stand on the side of common sense and common interests
On June 20, 2023, Ambassador Fu Cong, the head of the Chinese Embassy in the European Union, attended the China Europe Relations Dialogue held by the Swiss Stars Foundation and had a dialogue with Chen Ruihua, a member of the Stars Foundation's board of directors and co-founder and general manager of China Macro Group.
Chen Ruihua: The European Council will be held at the end of this month, and the 2019 EU China Strategic Outlook has formulated EU policies towards China. Do you think some EU policies will change in the coming weeks?
Fu Cong: Do you mean the EU's policy towards China? This should be decided by EU member states, and we will closely monitor it. Since the end of last year, China EU relations have maintained a sound momentum of development. Many European leaders have visited China, including German Prime Minister Schultz, President of the European Council Michel, President of France Malcolm, President of the European Commission von der Leyen, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez and some other leaders. Multiple high-level Chinese delegations visited Europe. Premier Li Qiang is currently visiting Germany and France, which is the highest level delegation from China to date. These high-level visits have accumulated a good momentum for the development of bilateral relations and injected greater impetus into the development of China Europe relations.
After arriving in Brussels, I have been in contact with the European side. I feel the great goodwill of various sectors in Europe towards China and the strong desire to strengthen cooperation in various fields. Therefore, I am full of confidence in the development prospects of China Europe relations. Meanwhile, we do face some challenges. Some European politicians frequently make noise for various purposes and even personal reasons, obstructing the development of China Europe relations in every way possible. But I believe that the consensus and common interests between China and Europe will eventually prevail.
This is my view on China Europe relations. I once again hope that EU member states can "hold their ground" in the diplomatic field, so that they have the right to decide which issues fall within the scope of national security, rather than handing them over to bureaucrats without direct interests. We hope that the EU can stand on the side of common sense and common interests, and promote the prosperity and development of China Europe relations.