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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C), European Council President Donald Tusk (L) and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker co-chair the 21st China-EU leaders' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, April 9, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)
BRUSSELS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China and the European Union (EU) reached significant consensus on bilateral ties, charted out future cooperation and voiced support for multilateralism as leaders of the two sides held an annual gathering here on Tuesday. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker co-chaired the 21st China-EU leaders' meeting. Both sides agreed that they have broad common interests in deepening mutual beneficial and win-win practical cooperation, share common ground on upholding multilateralism and an open world economy as well as opposing protectionism and unilateralism, and have common goals in improving global governance and maintaining world peace and stability. They also agreed on the great importance for China and the EU, two stabilizing forces and major economies of the world, to carry out strategic communication and cooperation. The two sides said that they should firmly grasp the mainstream of cooperation and properly handle differences and frictions through dialogue and consultation to promote the long-term, stable and sound development of China-EU relations, which serves the fundamental and long-standing interests of both sides and will have a positive impact on the world. The leaders of both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening their partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilisation, and to adopting a new agenda for cooperation beyond 2020. They vowed to uphold multilateralism, respect international law and fundamental norms governing international relations with the United Nations at the core, firmly support the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, and enhance dialogue and collaboration on WTO reform. | 
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