By David William Ferguson & Wang Ke
China.org.cn Multimedia Team

European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner visited China on March 29-30. During her visit, she held meetings with high-level Chinese counterparts, including Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of MFA and Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

Today, she gave an exclusive TV interview to China.org.cn in which she expressed her concern about EU-China relations, common global problems, the upcoming G-20 meeting in London and the financial crisis.

1. The upcoming G20 summit in London is going to be one of the critical events of 2009. What kinds of roles do you expect China and the European Union to play? More>>>

2. In terms of the European Union’s role, it has been widely reported that there are differences of opinion, notably between Prime Minister Brown in the UK and Bundeskanzler Merkel in Germany. Is it going to be possible for the European Union to speak with a single voice, and if not how might that hamper the work of the G20? More>>>

3. If we could move on to look at the IMF and China's role in the IMF - at the moment China is the 3rd largest economy in the world. It only has about 4% of IMF quotas. IMF quotas obviously play an important role in the contributions a country makes, in the level of borrowings it can indulge, and most importantly in the number of votes it has. More>>>

Do you believe China should play a more important role in organisations like the IMF and how do you see that evolving? Do you think that there is a general view internationally that it is time for China to play a more important role in the IMF?

4. You did mention earlier the fiscal packages that the EU and China are putting together. China has announced one of the biggest packages – about 4 trillion RMB or US $600 billion. What impact do you expect that to have in China and how much might it affect the international situation? More>>>

5. This is the most difficult economic situation that the world has faced for a very long time. No-one is going to be immune from it. The Euro zone is going to suffer difficulties. Do you believe that the Euro itself will emerge from the current economic crisis as it is today, or do you expect some changes to have to be made? More>>>

6. Could you talk about your trip in China this time? And what expectations do you hold for the future Sino-EU cooperation? More>>>

(China.org.cn March 30, 2009)