The president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz delivered a speech at CASS （Zhang Lei）

Invited by Zhang Dejiang, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), the president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz paid a visit to China from 15th to 18th March 2015. In the morning of 18th, Mr. Martin Schulz delivered a speech at CASS, titled "Marking the 40th anniversary of the EU-China relations: what next?”. Zhao Shengxuan, the vice president of CASS gave a welcoming address and Li Yang, the vice president of CASS hosted the event.

Schulz firstly expressed that the European Parliament is a unique institution, a multinational and multicultural people's assembly, with parliamentarians from 28 different European countries MEPs work together across borders - nation-state borders, linguistic, cultural and religious barriers. With the newly elected Parliament and the newly elected Commission in place, Europe is ready to lay the foundations for the future. An Investment Package will re-start the economy and create jobs. The Energy Union will ensure secure and affordable energy for the companies and citizens. And a digital single market will ensure Europe have a competitive industrial base.

This year is the 40th anniversary of establishment of China-EU diplomatic relations, Schulz said, “China and Europe need each other today more than ever for solving problems together. And the world needs China and Europe to cooperate in solving global problems more than ever. This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of EU-China diplomatic relations - a good occasion to take stock of our relationship and set the course for its future.” An ambitious and comprehensive Bilateral Investment Agreement can build a good environment for trade and investment for both sides. EU and China should work more closely in the future to cope with many global challenges such as international terrorism, pandemics and climate change. “Our successful futures will depend on us working together.”

At the Q&A session, the president made deep discussions with the participants on the power of the European Parliament, the European election, debts negotiations of Greece and the future development of EU-China relations.

More than 170 people attended the event, including representatives from National People's Congress, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce, scholars and experts from research institutions and universities, and ambassadors from EU member states and other European countries.

（Contact Zhang Lei：zhang-lei@cass.org.cn）