President attends the EU-Sichuan investment and cooperation conference

Chengdu, 26.10.2008  |  press release

On the third day of his visit to China, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attended the closing ceremony of the EU-Sichuan investment and cooperation conference. In his address, he pointed out that in 2008 China had successfully overcome a number of difficult challenges, one of them being the earthquake in Sichuan Province. He praised China for its excellent staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, also stressing that the launch of the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft and the Chinese astronaut who was the first to take a spacewalk demonstrated that China was keeping in step with state-of-the-art technologies. China is fully integrated into the most important global processes, cooperating closely with other countries hit by the global financial crisis, said the President.

President Türk stated that there was no doubt that the European Union and China were strategic partners taking decisions and action affecting the world as a whole. In this respect, he recalled the high-level dialogue established between the EU and China in the field of economy and trade, noting the progress made in negotiations on the conclusion of the EU-China partnership and cooperation agreement. The visit of the largest-ever delegation of European Commissioners to China in April demonstrates how important China is to Europe. The President stressed that Europe has changed in the recent period, citing the example of the Slovenian EU Presidency in the first half of 2008. A new Member State that was not part of the Western bloc during the Cold War was, for the first time, at the helm of the union of 500 million citizens.

During its EU Presidency, Slovenia pursued a path of cooperation within the extensive strategic partnership between the European Union and China. This cooperation has developed on the principle of equal responsibility, given China’s growing global role in politics, economy, trade, science, environment, culture, etc. It has been proved that the EU and China share many common interests and that, as strategic partners maintaining mature bilateral relations, they are able to overcome any differences through cooperation. Further proof of these friendly relations came when China was hit by a devastating earthquake and the EU helped the country deal with the damage, asserted the President, adding that at that time the European Union as a whole responded rapidly, offering financial assistance and contributing rescue teams and equipment. Individual countries and European citizens also responded and expressed their solidarity with the victims of the disaster.

The Slovenian President pointed out that, following the disaster, Slovenia had been particularly concerned since Chengdu, the Sichuan capital, and Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, have been twinned cities for over 27 years. During that time, many ties have been established between the two cities, from student exchanges to tourist visits and cooperation in the fields of culture, sport, science, medicine, etc. He further stressed that in the past the inhabitants of Sichuan Province had proved to be hard-working, clever and resourceful people. The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which has survived a number of natural disasters, is one example of this. Indeed, this also proved to be true in dealing with the damage caused by the earthquake. Rapid response in accordance with a disaster management plan can save many lives. In this respect, the Slovenian President commended the Chinese authorities for effective organisation, as well as for the prompt rescue mission and delivery of assistance, which would have been impossible without the help of thousands of brave and selfless people.

In closing, Dr Türk said he hoped that the EU-Sichuan investment and cooperation conference would improve cooperation between Europe and China, not only in terms of creating opportunities to strengthen economic cooperation but also in terms of contributing to true friendship and solidarity between the citizens of Europe and China.

After the conference, Dr Türk met with the Chinese Vice-Premier, Mr Li Keqiang, and the Governor of Sichuan Province, Mr Jiang Jufeng. Both assessed the role of the Republic of Slovenia in organising help for victims of the earthquake, and the commitment on the part of the European Union in this respect, as favourable. They also pointed out the possibility of further cooperation in the development of Sichuan Province, one of the more dynamic Chinese provinces, with which Slovenia has traditionally maintained good relations.