On July 5, 2023, Ambassador to Croatia H. E. Mr. Qi Qianjin published a signed article "Joining Hands to Promote China-EU Relations Through the Waves" in "Nacional", one of the most influential political magazines in Croatia. The full text is as follows:
Beautiful flowers go with spring, and verdant summer comes. Following the intensive visit to China by leaders of EU institutions and member states in April this year, Chinese Premier Li Qiang recently went to Germany to hold the seventh round of China-Germany government consultations and pay an official visit to Germany, and France to attend the Summit for a new global financing pact. This is Premier Li Qiang's first overseas visit after taking office. It is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. It is a journey of inheriting friendship and deepening cooperation. It reflects the great importance China attaches to China-EU relations and injects more impetus into China-EU cooperation in the next stage. Under the current complicated international situation, China and Europe maintain high-level and high-frequency exchanges and dialogues and carry out exchanges and cooperation in various fields, which is not only of great significance to the development of China-EU relations but also provides more stability and certainty for the world.
Friendship is the keynote of China's European policy. As President Xi Jinping said, there are no fundamental strategic differences or conflicts between China and the EU. The cooperation between the two sides is far greater than the competition, and the consensus is far greater than the differences. China and Europe are the world's two major powers, two major markets, and two major civilizations. China-EU relations are related to the well-being of both sides, the stability, and prosperity of the global structure, and have global influence and significance. China-EU relations are not targeted at, dependent on, or controlled by a third party. China has always viewed China-EU relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective and hopes to strengthen cooperation in various fields based on equality and mutual benefit and maintain stability and continuity in its policy towards Europe. At the same time, China supports European integration and strategic autonomy and hopes that the EU will play an active role in international affairs. China pays close attention to the development of the Ukraine crisis, plays a constructive role in the peaceful resolution of the crisis, and hopes that Europe will achieve security and stability. Although China-EU relations have encountered some headwinds recently, China is full of confidence in the prospect of cooperation with Europe. As long as the two sides adhere to the positioning of a comprehensive strategic partnership, maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen strategic communication, and properly manage differences, China-EU relations can advance on the right track.
Mutual benefits and win-win results are the main theme of China-EU cooperation. China and Europe are highly complementary in the market, capital, technology, and other aspects, share extensive common interests, and are each other's important development partners. Premier Li Qiang's visit to Europe has achieved fruitful results. He discussed with Germany and France to expand cooperation in the fields of the digital economy, green environmental protection, new energy, artificial intelligence, industrial technology upgrading, and green finance, to better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. China and Europe are each other's second-largest trading partners. In 2022, the total bilateral trade in goods will reach US$847.3 billion, with an average trade exchange of over US$1.6 million per minute. China-Europe railway has operated 16,000 trains and dispatched 1.6 million TEUs, becoming a "steel camel team" galloping across the Eurasian continent. The second list of the "China-EU Agreement on Geographical Indications" has been publicized, and 350 new products have been added for mutual recognition and mutual protection. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel, and other European dignitaries expressed their good wishes to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China when they met with Premier Li Qiang.
Multilateralism is the common language of both China and the EU. Both China and the EU are staunch defenders of multilateralism, are committed to maintaining the international system with the United Nations at its core, and advocate a joint response to global challenges. China and the EU share common interests in many areas including climate change, biodiversity, and arms control. During the visit, Premier Li Qiang said that he hopes that the European side will continue to maintain an open mind, adhere to independence, and properly handle relevant issues based on international rules and the spirit of the contract. The more turbulent the international situation becomes and the more prominent global challenges become, the more prominent the global significance of China-EU relations will be. At the critical juncture when the world is full of turmoil and mankind is once again standing at the crossroads of history, China is willing to strengthen international coordination and cooperation with the EU and join hands to play a leading role in supporting globalization, maintaining multilateralism, strengthening global governance, and responding to global challenges, jointly promoting world peace and development.
"De-risking" is a major risk in China-EU relations. During his visit to Europe, Premier Li Qiang said that some people proposed to "de-risk" and "reduce dependence" on cooperation with China. We hope not to politicize this concept. Whether there is risk in economic and trade cooperation and how much risk is there should be judged by the enterprise itself, and the enterprise operates according to market rules. If the government intervenes too much in enterprises on the grounds of "de-risking", it will cause a great disturbance to the market. We believe that China and the EU rely on each other in terms of economic and trade exchanges. The biggest risk between China and the EU is non-cooperation, and the biggest security risk is lack of development. The Chinese government supports expanding cooperation with the EU to jointly deal with risks. China's economy is very resilient. The United Nations report raised China's economic growth forecast for 2023 to 5.3% from the previous 4.8%. China will continue to expand its high-level opening up to the outside world, and continue to create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, ruled by law, and internationalized. China hopes to cooperate with Europe to jointly maintain the stability of global and China-Europe industrial and supply chains. Facts have proved that China's economy has maintained positive momentum, and what it brings to the world is opportunities rather than challenges, stability rather than turmoil, and insurance rather than risks.
Croatia is an important member state of the European Union and a comprehensive cooperative partner of China. A comprehensive, mutually beneficial, and friendly China-EU relationship is in the common interest of all EU member states, including Croatia. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations 31 years ago, China has always regarded Croatia as a good friend and an equal partner and has developed exchanges and cooperation with Croatia in various fields based on mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit, and win-win results. The relationship between the two countries has become an example of friendly cooperation between countries with different sizes, populations, and social systems. The successful opening of the Peljesac Bridge is not only a symbol of the friendship between the Chinese and Croatian people but also a model of trilateral cooperation between China, Croatia, and Europe. There is a proverb in Europe that the efforts of one person are addition, and the efforts of a team are multiplication. China is willing to work together with Croatia to comprehensively promote exchanges at all levels and cooperation in various fields, continuously improve the level of bilateral relations, promote the common development of Chinese-style modernization and European integration, and inject new impetus into China-EU relations and world peace, stability and prosperity.
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"Nacional" is one of the most influential political magazines in Croatia, with a weekly circulation of about 20,000 copies. It mainly focuses on Croatian domestic and world political news, and has many readers in Croatia and Southeastern Europe.