May 17: Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the Speaker of Ireland’s House
of Representatives Sean Barrett and President of the Senate Paddy Burke in the
Great Hall of the People.
May 24: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Switzerland and held talks with
Swiss Confederation President Ueli Maurer; Premier Li Keqiang delivered a
speech entitled “Work Hand-in-Hand to Create a New Future of China-
Switzerland Pragmatic Cooperation”during the luncheon hosted by the Swiss
economic andfinancial community.
May 25–27: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Germany. May 26: Premier Li
Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks and jointly announced
the opening of the Sino-German Year of Language; both leaders attended the
signing ceremony for cooperation documents concerning bilateral investment,
energy conservation and environmental protection, agricultural and educational
fields, etc. May 27: Premier Li Keqiang attended the luncheon attended by the
Sino-German business community in Berlin and delivered a speech there.
May 27: The European Commission announced that the EU prepared to seek an
amicable solution with China in regard to antidumping and anti-subsidy
investigations against Chinese photovoltaic products.
May 30–June 7: Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the National Committee of the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, paid an official friendly
visit to Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
June 3: Invited by the President of the European Commission, JoséManuel
Barroso, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang talked with President José Manuel
Barroso on the phone with respect to the current China-EU trade dispute con-
cerning photovoltaic products.
June 5: The European Commission announced the imposition of an 11.8 %
provisional antidumping duty on solar panels and key components made in
China as from June 6; if China and the EU failed to reach a solution before
August 6, the duty rate would be increased to 47.6 %.
June 6: The Chinese Ministry of Commerce launched antidumping and
anti-subsidy investigations against wine made in the EU.
June 13: With authorization by the European Securities and Markets Authority,
Dagong Europe Credit Rating Co., Ltd. under China-based Dagong Global
Credit Rating Co. Ltd. officially launched across-the-board European business.▲The European Commission announced that the EU hadfiled an application to
the WTO to hold consultations with the Chinese side with respect to the
antidumping duty imposed on high-performance stainless steel seamless pipes
made in the EU by China.June 16: The Seminar on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the
China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership was held in Brussels.
June 21: The 27th China-EU Economic and Trade Committee met in Beijing.
June 22: The People's Bank of China and the Bank of England signed the China-UK
bilateral currency swap agreement worth 200 billion RMB/20 billion pounds.254 Appendix: Chronicle of Events over Ten Years (January, 2003–September, 2013)