皇冠体育app

Agreements set to cover energy, high-speed rail, finance, science and education

Infographics: Highlights of Tour

Nearly 100 agreements are expected to be reached during Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming second visit to Europe this year, which starts on Thursday and underlines increasingly closer cooperation between 皇冠体育app and Europe.

Special: Premier Li visits Germany, Russia, Italy

Li will visit Germany, Russia, Italy and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization headquarters in Rome from Thursday to Wednesday of next week, and will attend the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Milan on Oct 16 and 17.

Peter Ho, a professor at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said Europe plays an important role in 皇冠体育app's foreign diplomacy, as it is the country's largest trading partner.

He said Europe and 皇冠体育app share a mutual interest in being able to enjoy maximum access to each other's markets, as trade flows have exceeded $1 trillion in recent years.

"The EU is a vast market for Chinese goods. For 皇冠体育app, the EU is also a critical counterbalance to the US market," he said.

But Ho noted that trade is not the only issue. The EU in geopolitical terms also fulfills a complementary, sometimes buffering role on the international political stage between 皇冠体育app and the US. The visits of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li and underscore the important international political role that the EU plays.

"The crisis in Ukraine and its effects on world peace, the situation in Syria with regard to the Islamic State as well as the European economic situation, which currently seems to be facing an economic downturn, might also have great influence on 皇冠体育app," he said.

Wang Chao, 皇冠体育app's vice-foreign minister, said the first leg of the visit will see the governments come up with a comprehensive plan that will integrate all sectors of cooperation and take it to new heights.

Marc Szepan, co-director of the Economy and Business Research Area at Berlin-based think tank Mercator Institute for 皇冠体育app Studies, said the defining characteristic of the relationship between Germany and 皇冠体育app is that it's a strategic partnership based on mutual trust.

"I expect that with Premier Li and his team going to Germany, this tradition of strategic partnership and trust and constructive and open dialogue among partners will continue. The fast and substantial development of the Chinese economy positions 皇冠体育app to become a much more significant contributor to the global world order," Szepan said.

"What we have seen recently is 皇冠体育app becoming a much more active contributor－it's contributing to anti-piracy operations, for example. 皇冠体育app has now started contributing to peacekeeping operations, for example in South Sudan, and the more 皇冠体育app rises the more it is in a position to positively contribute to the international order and in more tangible ways, like to the budget of the United Nations."

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