Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan (C), Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming (L) and Minister of Finance Xie Xuren attend the Second China-European Union High Level Economic and Trade Dialog at the EU headquarters in Brussels, capital of Belgium, May 7, 2009. [Wu Wei/Xinhua]

For the Chinese part, Wang said China will continue to send buying missions to Europe and encourage Chinese companies to increase procurement and imports from the continent as a concrete move to boost trade with the EU in the difficult times.

In February, a big delegation of Chinese companies visited Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Britain. They struck 13.6-billion-dollar deals with their European counterparts.

EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, who co-chaired the two-day dialogue with Wang, said the 27-nation bloc would remain committed to free trade.

"We stand by our commitments to free trade and resist call of protectionism," Ashton said, adding everyone would benefit from further opening up.

Ashton said the EU and China, as two key players in the world economy, should work together to meet global challenges, including a global free trade agenda.

"What we do have an impact on the global economy. We have common interest to maintain openness, especially moving forward the Doha Round of world trade talks," she said.

Her view was echoed by Wang, who called for joint efforts with the EU to help the world economy recover.

"The urgent task now is to take decisive measures to kick-start the world economy," Wang said. "The EU is the world's largest economy, while China is the largest developing country. The economic and financial situation in the EU and China has a direct impact on the world economic recovery and financial stability."

The high-level economic and trade dialogue, which is held annually between the EU and China, kicked off in Brussels on Thursday. The two-dialogue brought together key policy makers from both sides, including Wang and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton.

A further eight EU Commissioners and a total of 12 Chinese ministers or vice-ministers are participating in the far-reaching talks, which cover a series of topics, such as trade, investment, small and medium-sized companies, customs cooperation, sustainable development, product safety and intellectual property rights.

It is the second time that the EU and China hold the high-level economic and trade dialogue, which was agreed at a Sino-EU summit in November 2007. The first meeting was held in Beijing in April 2008.

(CCTV, Xinhua News Agency  May 8, 2009)