Fifty years ago, six countries including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Italy and Germany, signed the Treaty of Rome. This landmark legal groundwork indicates the birth of the early form of the European Union. After half a century of expansion, the EU has become the most successful regional political and economic bloc.

In 1975 China began formal diplomatic relations with the European Union. Since then, China and the EU have cooperated and exchanged in various fields. Trade and economic cooperations are of course a fundamental part of the relationship, in 2004 the European Union became China's biggest trading partner and China is now the second largest to the EU. Today, the bilateral trade has reached a total of 200 billion Euros.

EU Ambassador to China, Mr. Serge Abou, is giving his perspectives on Sino-EU relations at 10 AM on May 30, 2007.