Europe must have the confidence to welcome China's economic resurgence and develop new policies to help its people adapt to changes brought by globalization, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in Beijing Thursday.

 

Mandelson made the remarks in a speech delivered at the Renmin (People's) University of China in Beijing.

 

He said Western views of China's resurgence often fell at one of two extremes: those who fear that China's increasing economic power will lead to military might and foreign policy confrontation; and those who argued that the world was undergoing an economic revolution which politics could do little to shape or influence, and Europe should maximize its share of burgeoning markets, new contracts and profits as best as it can.

 

Mandelson said he rejected both extremes and believed that Europe had the confidence to welcome China's economic resurgence, and that Europe was capable of competing in a "race to the top."

 

He urged Europeans to make concrete efforts to beat the tendency of protectionism on the continent.

 

"In European domestic politics, seeing off protectionism involves more than political commitment and rhetoric," he said.

 

European governments must develop comprehensive new economic and social policies to help their people adapt to changes brought by globalization and China's rise, to build new sources of comparative advantage, foster creativity and allow their people to develop their talents to the full.

 

Mandelson urged China and the EU to work together to build an economic relationship that benefited all.

 

"Such a successful relationship means living up to economic political responsibilities and commitments on both sides," he said.

 

"Economically both sides have to commit to openness, resist protectionist pressures.... Politically both sides have to work together to tackle the pressures generated by the wider security, social and environmental consequences of globalization," he said.

 

Mandelson also said he intended to put forward to the European Commission and to member states this autumn a document setting out the agenda for the trade and investment between China and Europe for at least the next five years.

 

Mandelson arrived in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province Monday on his fifth trip to China as the EU Trade Commissioner.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2006)