China, EU urged to jointly boost free trade

Economic, tech complementarity offers strong foundation for cooperation

With many parts of the world facing unilateral pressure from the United States, government officials and business leaders have called on China and the European Union to stand together to uphold free trade as a powerful counterbalance to rising protectionism.

Apart from participating in the 13th meeting of economic and trade ministers of China, Japan and South Korea in Seoul last week, marking the resumption of trilateral talks after a five-year pause, China has organized a large business delegation to visit Sweden, Norway and Hungary from Saturday to Friday to deepen economic cooperation and seek fresh business opportunities, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

During the China-Sweden Trade and Investment Forum held on Monday in Stockholm, Sweden, which brought together over 200 business representatives from both countries, Ling Ji, vice-minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, said that China and Sweden, as well as China and the EU, should work together to firmly defend multilateralism in the face of growing unilateralism and protectionism.