Interview: Spanish expert advocates comprehensive EU-China strategic partnership

MADRID, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- It is crucial for China and the European Union (EU) to maintain and develop a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, Antonio Miguel Carmona, chairman of Spain's Friends of China Association, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, making it a key moment to reflect on the past and prepare for the future on the eve of the leaders' meeting.

The China-EU summit will see in-depth exchanges on strategic and global issues in bilateral relations, and help to draw a blueprint, boost confidence and increase momentum for this important relationship, he said.

An advocate of multilateralism and free trade, Carmona said close and friendly relations between China and the EU can only be based on mutual benefit and win-win results, and the first step that the EU should take to this end is "for the European Parliament to approve the signed EU-China investment agreement, that will yield benefits to all parties."

China is showing the world an open, wealthy and prosperous country, and Europe needs to leave behind past pride and prejudice, he stressed. "Only by opening up and reaching out to the world can Europe become more prosperous."

China and Europe should jointly become the two major forces for greater progress and prosperity in the world, he said.

Carmona said Spain, as the current holder of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, is promoting the processes of ecological transformation, digital transformation and re-industrialization, to fully respond to severe global challenges. These strategic goals resemble those of China and their realization cannot be achieved without China's cooperation.

He said that the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China has won hearts and minds, showing that "tolerance, coexistence, exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations play an irreplaceable role in advancing humanity's modernization process and making the garden of world civilizations flourish."

The major civilizations of China and Europe have the responsibility to work together to promote exchanges and mutual learning, promote the further development of political and economic relations, and provide "a paradigm of development and prosperity for the benefit of people around the world," he concluded.