Meeting highlights need to strive for sustained growth of China-EU ties
President Xi Jinping meets with European Council President Charles Michel and
European Commission President Ursula con der Leyen via video link in Beijing.
President Xi Jinping reaffirmed China's support on Friday for peace talks in
resolving the Ukraine crisis, saying that China and the European Union should
remain committed to bringing the situation under control and preventing a
spillover of the crisis.
Speaking during a virtual meeting with European Council President Charles
Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Xi said
Beijing supports the endeavor made by the EU to resolve the situation in
Ukraine and the nation has always been promoting peace talks in its own
way.
Xi reiterated that Beijing finds it deeply regrettable about the current s
situation in Ukraine, saying that it has been the consistent and clear
position of China to always stand on the side of peace, assess the
situation independently and make judgements on the basis of the
merits of the issue.
The international community should continue to create the conditions
and the environment for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine,
and open up space for a political settlement, rather than fuel the crisis
or heighten tensions, he said.
China, after having provided several batches of emergency aid to the
Ukraine side and supplies to European countries receiving large numbers
of refugees, stands ready to maintain dialogue with EU to jointly avert a
humanitarian crisis on an even larger scale, he said.
The president highlighted the need to ensure lasting peace in Europe
and the Eurasian continent.
The fundamental cause of the Ukraine cirsis lies in the longstanding
regional security conflict in Europe, and the fundamental solution is to
accommodate the reasonable security concerns of various sides, he said.
He cautioned against the use of a Cold-War mentality to develop global
and regional security frameworks, saying that China supports the leading
role of the EU and dialogue between the EU, Russia, the United States and
NATO to face up to the contradictions accumulated over the years and
find a solution to problems.
In properly handling the crisis, one should not take the wrong medicine,
or focus on just one aspect of the issue without regard to the rest, or hold
the entire world hostage, he said, adding that it is important to avoid making
ordinary people around the world suffer as a result.
He urged various sides to cherish the current global economic landscape,
saying that the global economic system cannot be disrupted at will, and
attempts to politicize or weaponize the global economy as a tool to serve
one's own agenda should not be allowed.
Such attempts will trigger serious crises in global finance, trade, energy,
technology, food, industrial and supply chains, among others, he said.
If the situation continues to worsen, it could take several years, if not decades,
to get things back on track, he said, citing the concerns of many people
that the current situation may wipe out the fruits of international economic
cooperation gained through decades of efforts.
China and the EU should keep the system, rules and foundation of the global
economy stable in order to boost public confidence, he said.