The European Union will set up an information office in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, announced the European Information Center of Sweden Thursday.

The office, as a branch of the European Information Center, will provide a platform for information exchanges between the Chinese and EU firms, said Xun Li, an official with Hunan provincial government.

The office was approved by the EU and will open on May 9, said Christina Soderstrom, senior supervisor for business of European Information Center.

Soderstrom is in Changsha for a business event attended by about 20 EU companies and 40 companies from Hunan Province. The event is a follow-up to last November's EU-Hunan Asia-Enterprise 2004 conference.

"The office will include a library open to the public, where Chinese firms can get enough information on EU business while EU firms can know more about China," said Xun.

The EU is the province's biggest trade partner, with the value of trade reaching 850 million US dollars last year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2005)