China vows continued co-op with EU in green economy

Amid the China-EU trade frictions, a high ranking Chinese politician said China will continue to maintain its ties with western countries in an effort to build up a low-carbon economy.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks during his visit to Finland late on Thursday.

"China cannot develop without the world and China's development benefits the world," he told a prominent audience at the Confederation of Finnish Industries.

He also pledged that China will import eight to ten trillion dollars worth of goods in the next five years.

Admitting that China's per capita GDP is merely one seventh that of Finland, Yu said "we need to work hard before the entire Chinese people could lead a better life."

"There is still a considerable gap between urban and rural development. Energy and resources consumption is high and environmental pollution is serious," he added.

In an effort to reform its extensive economy into a more sustainable one, China will continue to introduce advanced technologies and managerial expertise from other countries, increase import of goods and services, and encourage Chinese companies to go global and carry out investment and cooperation in an orderly manner, said Yu.

Considering Finland as a front-runner in global low-carbon economy, he deemed it important to tap cooperation potential in energy conservation, environmental protection and other new fields with it.

The two nations need to "make good use of such cooperation platforms as the eco-city and the DigiEcoCity, facilitate new cooperation models in energy conservation, emissions reduction, renewable energy and clean energy," he elaborated.

Yu's two-day visit to Finland comes amid a dispute between China and EU on possible trade actions against Chinese solar panels and mobile telecommunications equipments.

Believing that Finland has been a major power upholding free trade and opposing protectionism, Yu hopes the Nordic country "will play a positive role and contribute to proper settlement of China-EU trade frictions."

Ahead of Yu's visit, Finnish Parliament Speaker Eero Heinaluoma said in an interview with Xinhua that it is important to support free trade on fair play basis especially during economic recession.

"In a short period, you can close your borders, but in the long run, you need the expertise technologies and innovations of other countries too," he said.

Heinaluoma said he believed "the leaders of European Union and China could do a little bit more to develop our cooperation in the future, because obviously there are so much we can do together."