The environment has been a priority for EU-China cooperation for several years, and a subject for both policy dialogue and assistance projects. We have a bilateral Environment Working Group. This should cover both domestic and international policy development. On the domestic side, we want to work with China in areas such as sustainable forest management, the management of water and land resources, and measures to combat climate change. We should aim to take our co-operation as far as possible in multilateral fora too.
Climate change is a real threat, and one, which can only be addressed through multilateral effort.
It will not have escaped your attention, living here, that six of the world's ten most air-polluted cities are in China. The promotion of sustainable development will be one of the three areas on which we focus future aid programmes, together with encouragement of good governance initiatives and promotion of the rule of law, and support for economic and social reform. China is not always an easy partner for the EU . I know that China is not always an easy partner for YOU either. But you, like we, recognise that it is in our own interests to engage with China, to work to solve problems together.