Beijing Review: 50 Years of Growing Partnership
Over the past half a century, both sides have championed multilateralism, deepened collaboration and achieved mutually beneficial outcomes. Their enduring efforts have played a constructive role in advancing global peace and development. A healthy and stable partnership not only serves their interests, but also helps shape a better world.
'The wise find common ground; the unwise dwell on differences.' This slightly adapted line from the earliest known text on Chinese medicine, The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, reflects the spirit of cooperation between the two sides across decades and offers a guiding vision for the future.
In March 2014, shortly before his state visit to Belgium and visit to the EU headquarters, President Xi Jinping cited this ancient Chinese quote in his article published in Belgian newspaper Le Soir. The sentence emphasizes that wise people focus on shared values and embrace diversity to achieve mutual benefit; whereas the unwise amplify differences, foment conflict and invite failure.
Through this quote, Xi conveyed his hope that China and the EU will respect each other, treat each other as equals, seek common ground while respecting differences, deepen communication and stay committed to mutually beneficial cooperation. He called for finding the greatest common interests, sharing opportunities and jointly tackling challenges.
Given their differences in history and culture, social institutions and stages of development, it is only natural for China and the EU to have varying perspectives, and even disagreements, on certain issues. Like-mindedness makes for partnership, and seeking common ground while respecting differences is also a feature of partnership.
Both past experiences and present realities have shown that as long as both sides adhere to mutual respect, treat each other as equals and engage in candid dialogue, differences cannot stand in the way of dialogue, nor can disagreements impede collaboration.
To date, China and the EU have established over 70 consultation and dialogue mechanisms, covering a broad spectrum of sectors including politics, economy and trade, people-to-people exchange, science and technology, energy and the environment.
Bilateral trade expanded from just over $2.4 billion in 1975 to over $780 billion in 2024. Two-way investment, once negligible, surged to nearly $260 billion. Since its launch in 2011, the China-Europe Railway Express, dubbed the 'steel camel caravan,' has reached 227 cities across 25 European countries, completing over 100,000 freight trips, and become a key link between Asia and Europe.
Throughout history, both Chinese and European civilizations have made lasting impacts on the progress of humanity. In recent years, exchanges in education, science and technology have flourished. Cultural exchange is becoming more vibrant and connections between people are growing ever closer, continuously enriching their shared stories of mutual understanding, cooperation, exchange and mutual learning.
'The wise find common ground; the unwise dwell on differences.' At the new starting point that is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, China and the EU should remain true to the original aspiration of their partnership, seek common ground while respecting differences, build mutual trust and pursue mutually beneficial cooperation. Together, they will foster global peace and prosperity, as well as usher in a new, promising chapter in the next 50 years.
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