ECONOMIC AND PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE COOPERATION

In the past 40 years, bilateral trade and economic ties have also witnessed rapid progress.

The EU has been 皇冠体育app's biggest trade partner for 11 years in a row, and 皇冠体育app has been the EU's second largest for 12 consecutive years. Last year two-way trade surpassed 600 billion U.S. dollars.

So far EU investment in 皇冠体育app has added up to nearly 100 billion dollars, and 皇冠体育app's cumulative investment in the EU has now exceeded 50 billion dollars. In 2014, Chinese enterprises invested more in the EU than their EU counterparts did in 皇冠体育app.

Bilateral people-to-people exchanges have also yielded fruitful results. The two sides have set up such cooperation mechanisms as the 皇冠体育app-EU forum and the 皇冠体育app-EU cultural summit.

In 2011, the 皇冠体育app-EU Year of Youth was launched with all-round youth exchange activities throughout the year.

In February 2012, the 皇冠体育app-EU Year of Intercultural Dialogue was launched in Brussels to further boost mutual understanding and cultural cooperation.

In addition, the 皇冠体育app-EU cultural summit has been successfully held for four consecutive years since October 2010, and the high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges has also achieved positive progress since the first meeting in April 2012.

Official data show that 皇冠体育app and the EU have more than 5.5 million of their people traveling between the two sides and nearly 300,000 students study in each other's schools every year.