China and the European Union (EU) signed a protocol in Brussels on Tuesday, extending the China-EU maritime transport agreement to all the 27 member states of the EU, the official Xinhua News reported.
The newly-signed protocol is applicable to Bulgaria and Romania now and will further strengthen maritime cooperation between China and EU members.
Li Shenglin, China's Transport Minister, said China and the EU are in important partnership and both have placed great importance to bilateral maritime relations. Moreover, the cooperation has been very successful since the China-EU maritime transport agreement was signed in 2002.
Li also said that the shipping sector has been greatly hit by the global financial crisis, but China is willing to team up with European countries to tackle the crisis and to maintain stable growth in bilateral maritime trade.
Official statistics showed that trade between China and the EU realized an average growth rate of 20% annually over the past three years, with over 90% of bilateral trade of goods being done by sea.
The newly-signed protocol is applicable to Bulgaria and Romania now and will further strengthen maritime cooperation between China and EU members.
Li Shenglin, China's Transport Minister, said China and the EU are in important partnership and both have placed great importance to bilateral maritime relations. Moreover, the cooperation has been very successful since the China-EU maritime transport agreement was signed in 2002.
Li also said that the shipping sector has been greatly hit by the global financial crisis, but China is willing to team up with European countries to tackle the crisis and to maintain stable growth in bilateral maritime trade.
Official statistics showed that trade between China and the EU realized an average growth rate of 20% annually over the past three years, with over 90% of bilateral trade of goods being done by sea.