Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), attends a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 4, 2026. Photo: Xinhua

The National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, held a press conference on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, one day ahead of the opening of its annual session. Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the fourth session of the 14th NPC, briefed the press on the session.

In response to a question regarding successive visits to China by many European politicians and leaders of EU institutions, leading to views that Europe is turning toward China and that Europe is facing competition and challenges from China in areas such as economy and trade, Lou said that China and Europe have no fundamental conflict of interests or geopolitical tensions. China is ready to work with Europe to uphold partnership as a basic characterization of their relationship, properly handle trade and economic differences, cultivate more cooperation agendas and jointly meet global challenges.

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic ties, and there were frequent high-level exchanges between China and Europe, the spokesperson said. China and Europe had fruitful, practical cooperation and rich and diverse people-to-people exchanges. It is proven by facts that Europe needs China and China also needs Europe, Lou added.

The China-Europe economic and trade relations are essentially complementary and mutually beneficial, and cooperation with China is good for Europe's economic development and the well-being of European people, Lou said. For example, the central European trade and logistics cooperation zone in Hungary serves as a platform for two-way interaction between Chinese and European businesses and continuously elevates Hungary's status as a logistics hub for Europe. 

Likewise, the spokesperson added that European enterprises investing in China are sharing in the dividends of China's high-quality development. For example, the Zhanjiang plant of BASF is the biggest single investment ever made by the German company. These enterprises have also greatly strengthened their own competitiveness on the global stage.

Last year, the Chinese side and the European Parliament moved in sync to remove the restrictions on their interaction and resumed the mechanism of legislative exchange that had been halted for years. The NPC is ready to strengthen friendly exchanges with European Parliament and national parliaments of European countries to increase understanding, build consensus, advance cooperation and contribute to the steady and sustained development of China-Europe relations, the spokesperson added.

Global Times