Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday appealed for an improved strategic partnership with its largest trading partner, the European Union (EU), during a meeting with visiting EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Wen called on both sides to prepare well for the Eighth China-EU summit, expected to be held in Beijing later this year.

Wen also proposed the speeding up of a feasibility study on a China-EU partnership agreement and establishing a strategic dialogue mechanism.

Barroso, who is in Beijing on a five-day official visit, said that the EU attaches importance to EU-China relations and that China's development has offered great opportunities for the two sides to further expand cooperation.

The EU will treat relations with China from a strategic point of view and push forward cooperation in energy, climate change, science and technology, aviation and space study, Barroso added.

Barroso, on his first China visit as head of the EU Commission, will also visit Shanghai, Macao and Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2005)