The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and nine Commissioners will go to China to meet the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, and the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao.

 

President Barroso will lead a group of nine Commissioners (S. Dimas, A. Piebalgs, J. Potočnik, B. Ferrero-Waldner, P. Mandelson, L. Michel, V. Špidla, M. Kuneva and L. Kovács) to open a dialogue with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and the Chinese government that will focus on the challenges of climate change and sustainable development.

 

Also at this meeting President Barroso and Premier Wen will launch an EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Mechanism. Proposed by the Chinese authorities and approved at the EU-China Beijing summit in November 2007, this mechanism will provide a new tool for dealing with the problems confronting European companies trying to establish themselves in China, especially in the fields of investment, market access and protection of intellectual property rights.

 

Issues concerning human rights and freedom of expression will also be discussed. The Commission has always had a very open dialogue with China on these matters. The recent events in Tibet are a further reason to speak about them.

 

On track to become the biggest economy in the world, China is already the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to some indicators; this position will doubtless be confirmed and consolidated in the years to come. The Commission therefore believes that it is essential to get China to commit itself to fighting climate change.

 

In response to the Commission's proposals in January 2007, all the Heads of State and Government committed themselves to reducing the EU's emissions by 20% between now and 2020, or by 30% under an international agreement. They have also pledged to raise the share of renewable energy to 20% and increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2020.

 

Looking ahead to the Olympic Games, which will begin on 8 August, and afterwards, President Barroso intends to use this opportunity to reiterate the long-term partnership goals of EU-China relations, which are necessary to ensure the stability and prosperity of both sides.