European Commission President Jose Barroso said he's opposed to boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games in August, adding that he'd been ``encouraged'' by discussions with Chinese officials on Tibet, reported the Bloomberg.
``The games should be celebrated in a peaceful way,'' Barroso said today after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. ``We had open and frank exchanges on Tibet. I hope to see positive developments soon.''
China, the European Union's fastest-growing export market, bought 7.6 billion euros ($12 billion) of products last year from the 27-nation trading bloc, a 36 percent surge from 2003. Borroso, leading a delegation of eight EU commissioners to boost trade and cooperate on intellectual property protection, doesn't want to upset his host or question China's sovereignty over Tibet.
``I've confirmed that the EU is attached to the territorial integrity and unity of China, and this naturally applies to Tibet,'' he said in Beijing.
Trade is in China's favor with Chinese companies exporting 15.8 billion euros of products to the EU last year, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics. Barroso said there's a need to address the ``major'' imbalances that exist between the EU and China.
``Bilateral trade volumes are impressive and are increasing every year by 20-25%,'' Barroso said. ``But there are major imbalances and we both agree on the necessity to rebalance our bilateral trade. We have made useful progress today.''
Wen told reporters both sides agreed to solve their problems through dialogue. China and the EU agreed to fight counterfeiting and to set up a dialogue on energy efficiency.
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