signed theExtradition Treaty between the People’s Republic of China and the
Kingdom of Spain.
November 22: China and the EU signed theCooperation Agreement for the
Peaceful Use of Space between the Government of the People’s Republic of
China and the European Space Agency.
December 4: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao paid an official visit tofive countries,
including France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Portugal.
December 5: China and France released theJoint Declaration of Cooperation in
the Field of Youthand signed 16 cooperation documents.
December 8: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Slovakia. During this visit, the
two sides signed an additional protocol regarding an agreement on the pro-
motion and the reciprocal protection of investments between the two govern-
ments; China’s Ministry of Information Industry and Slovakia’s Ministry of
Transport, Post and Telecommunications signed a cooperation agreement
regarding thefield of information communications.
December 9: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Portugal. The two sides
decided to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership.
December 20: China and the EU held thefirst strategic dialogue.
2006
January 12: China and the EU signed theJoint Declaration of China–EU Strategic
Cooperation in High-speed Network Infrastructure and Its Major Applicationsin
Beijing. China and the EU agreed to build an advanced high-speed network
interconnection above 2500 megabits/s to support China-EU cooperation research
in relevant technicalfields based on high bandwidth network support.
January 19: The Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, kicked off a
three-day official visit to China. The two governments decided to establish a
comprehensive strategic partnership.
February 3: China and the EU held a foreign ministers’meeting in Vienna.
February 8: After the EU refused to grant market economy status to all of the 13
Chinese footwear enterprises under spot check, 8 Chinese leather shoes man-
ufacturers initiated and established the Coalition of Chinese Shoe Manufacturers
Against the EU’s Antidumping Actions in Guangzhou, for the purpose of
conducting a collective defense against the largest antidumping case launched
against China by the EU in the last 10 years.
March 17: The EU Antitrust Body decided to investigate the acquisition of the
Dutch Burg Industries B.V. by the China International Marine Containers
Group. This was thefirst antitrust investigation launched by the EU against an
overseas acquisition by a Chinese company.
March 23: The European Commission issued a ruling against Chinese shoes
through the EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson and officially approved a
half-year provisional antidumping duty imposed on leather shoes exported from
China and Vietnam to the EU as from April 7. This was the antidumping case
234 Appendix: Chronicle of Events over Ten Years (January, 2003–September, 2013)