of the Republic of Finland Concerning Cooperation in Cultural, Educational,
Scientific and Technological, Youth and Sports Fieldsin Helsinki.
March 29: China and Sweden signed theMemorandum of Understanding between
the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the
Kingdom of Sweden Concerning Cooperation in the Cultural Fieldin Stockholm.
April 28: Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with French President Nicolas
Sarkozy in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
April 29: The President of the European Commission, JoséManuel Barroso
kicked off a three-day official visit to China and attended the opening ceremony
of the Shanghai World Expo.
May 6: Chinese President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages with
the President of the EU Council, Herman Van Rompuy, to warmly celebrate the
35th anniversary of the establishment of China-EU diplomatic relations.
May 24: The 1st China-EU Political Party Summit was held in Beijing.
July 1: The EU launched antidumping and safeguard measure investigations
against Chinese data cards, which involved about 4.1 billion USD.
July 6: The European Commission approved the merger and acquisition of
Sweden’s Volvo by China’s Zhejiang Geely Group Co., Ltd and Daqing
State-owned Assets Management Co., Ltd.
July 7: Chairman of China’s NPC Standing Committee, Wu Bangguo, kicked
off an official friendly visit to France, Serbia and Switzerland, and attended the
3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments in Geneva.
July 9: Chairman of China’s NPC Standing Committee, Wu Bangguo, met with
French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the French presidential palace.
July 14: In Belgrade, China and Serbia signed the Memorandum of
Understanding between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and
the Government of the Republic of Serbia Concerning the Mutual Establishment
of Cultural Centers.
July 15: German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited China. Chinese President Hu
Jintao and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao separately met with Angela Merkel.
July 16: both sides released theSino-German Joint CommuniquéConcerning
Comprehensive Promotion of the Strategic Partnershipto officially upgrade
bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, and bilateral strategic dialogue to a
ministerial one. Both sides signed 10 bilateral cooperation documents con-
cerning thefields of economics, technology,finance, ecology, environmental
protection, electricity, automobiles and culture.
July 16: Xi Jinping, Chinese Vice-president, President of the Party School of the
CPC Central Committee, met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the
Party School of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing. Angela Merkel discussed
with students of the Party School regarding Sino-German relations, China-EU
relations, the joint response to the globalfinancial crisis, climate change, etc.
September 1: The State Councilor Dai Bingguo and the EU High Representative
of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-president of the
European Commission, Catherine Ashton, held the first China-EU Strategic
Dialogue in Guiyang.244 Appendix: Chronicle of Events over Ten Years (January, 2003–September, 2013)