People’s Party, led a delegation to China in October 2010, with the hope of
strengthening cooperation with China.^46 At the end of August 2012, the Group of
the Green Party sent a small delegation to China to exchange views on issues
including labor rights with scholars from the Institute of Law of the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences.^47
The China-Europe High-Level Political Parties Forum has become an important
platform of exchanges between the political parties from China and the EU since
2010,, which is co-hosted by the main party groups in the European Parliament and
the Chinese side. Exchanges among political parties have become an integral part of
China-EU relations. The themes of the four forums held in 2010–2013 include:
“Global Challenges & China-EU Cooperation”,“China’s 12th Five-year Plan &
Europe’s 2020 Strategy: New Opportunities, New Prospects for China-EU
Cooperation”, “China-EU Cooperation for Meeting Challenges Together” and
“Promoting Win-win Cooperation for Breakthroughs in China-Europe Relations”.
This forum has become increasingly mature particularly in the following aspects.
First, topics discussed have become more pragmatic. For example, topics at the 2nd
forum involved economic development mode, technological innovation, green
economy, trade, biotechnology, information technology, and both sides hoped to
find new areas for and methods of cooperation. Second, this forum serves as a
channel for in-depth dialogues among political parties with different ideologies and
political views. Though political parties from China and the EU have different views
on some issues, it does not prevent them from frankly discussing issues of common
concern. China and the EU cherish great expectations about the future development
of this forum and hope to turn it into an important high-level, multilateral, strategic
platform among political parties from both sides and a bridge for enhancing strategic
communication and deepening mutual political trust between the two sides.
2.3.4 The High Representative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy
The establishment of the post of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy is an important innovation made by theTreaty of Lisbon
concerning the EU’s foreign relations.^48 Its main responsibilities lie in coordinating
the EU’s foreign policy in differentfields and ensuring consistency in the foreign
affairs as far as possible. The High Representative is not only responsible for
(^46) See“EU-China: Joseph Daul MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group, Calls for Strengthened
Cooperation,”website of the Group of the European People’s Party at the European Parliament,http://
http://www.eppgroup.eu/press/showpr.asp?prcontroldoctypeid=1&prcontrolid=9810&prcontentid=
16703&prcontentlg=en. Accessed on November 20, 2012.
(^47) Interview conducted by the Author at the European Parliament (Brussels), March, 2012.
(^48) Cheng ( 2010 , p. 24).
2 China-EU Political Relations 53