On Thursday, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the need to discuss a relationship that has grown more complex in recent years.

The president said this at the start of talks in Beijing with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

“China is of great importance to Europe with interdependencies and a long shared history,’’ Ms Von der Leyen said in a video posted on her Twitter account.

She added that both sides had benefited immensely from the relationship. “However EU-China relations have become more complex in recent years.”

She said it was important that “we discussed together all the aspects of our relations today,” noting that this “will help both the European Union and China to navigate a complex and volatile geopolitical environment.”

Ms Von der Leyen made reference to her father Ernst Albrecht, who had visited China as premier of the German state of Lower Saxony in the 1980s.

At the time, he had struck one of the first cooperation deals between a Chinese province and a German state, she noted. 

(Xinhua/NAN)