China and Europe address trade as Tibet dogs talks

By Chris Buckley Reuters - Friday, April 25 01:04 pm

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the European Union vowed on Friday to seek balanced trade and foster cooperation in climate change in high-level meetings dogged by tension over Tibet protests and the Olympics.

EU officials led by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso had intended meetings with senior Chinese officials in Beijing this week to help ease rifts over China's big trade deficit and to foster agreement on "sustainable" growth.

Economic tensions have festered as China's trade surplus with the EU bloc surged to nearly 160 billion euros (126 billion pounds) last year, according to EU data.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the two sides had agreed to enhance cooperation on energy conservation and emissions reduction.

"Our mutual benefits by far outweigh the conflicts. As long as we respect, trust and learn from each other, there will surely be a better future for the Sino-EU relationship," Wen told reporters.

Barroso said the main focus of the talks was climate change and China had signalled its will to make domestic emissions part of a global agreement to tackle climate change after 2012.

He said there were "major imbalances" in trade and both sides had agreed on the necessity for a rebalance.

TALKS UPSTAGED

The long-prepared talks have been upstaged by anti-Chinese unrest across Tibetan areas last month, followed by Tibet protests that upset the Beijing Olympic torch relay in London and Paris and then nationalist Chinese counter-protests.

Barroso welcomed China's announcement that it would hold talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama.

"While fully respecting the sovereignty of China, we have always advocated the need for dialogue because we believe this is the best way to achieve sustainable, substantive solution to the Tibet issue," Barroso told reporters.

"As far as I understand the Chinese position, the Chinese say they are ready to discuss everything except sovereignty for Tibet."

Speaking to reporters after the talks, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson cautioned that global economic uncertainties were stoking protectionist sentiment.

"My preference is not trade defence, it's exploiting the opportunities that openness provides," he said.

Mandelson had earlier urged an end to mutual threat of boycotts sparked by the recent unrest in Tibet, in response to which the European Parliament has asked EU leaders to boycott the opening ceremony at the Beijing Games in August unless China opens talks with the Dalai Lama.

Such calls, and Chinese public counter-campaigns to boycott European companies, especially the French supermarket chain Carrefour, served neither side, Mandelson said on Thursday.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said after the talks that the two had discussed energy, intellectual property rights, expanding trade and technological cooperation.

"Both sides agreed to continue adhering to openness and opposing trade protectionism," Wang said.

(Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck and Yoko Kubota in Tokyo; Editing by Nick Macfie and Alex Richardson)

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