Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Zhao Ying.
Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union.
How has the relationship evolved over the past five decades?
China saw a travel boom during the May Day holiday.
What does it reveal about consumer confidence and the country's economic recovery?
And we take a closer look at how U.S. terror pikes are impacting European industries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has exchanged congratulations with top EU leaders on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the European Union.
In a message with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,
President Xi said that healthy and stable China-EU ties not only promote mutual achievements but also illuminate the world.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said China welcomes the EU leaders to visit China for a new round of China-EU summit at a proper time.
China also said on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the European Parliament to lift all restrictions on exchanges.
A ministry spokesperson said China believes it will deepen understanding and inject new impetus into the development of ties.
For more, we are joined by Professor Qu Qiang,
fellow of Feldenwald Research Center at Minzu University of China.
Professor Qu, thanks for joining us.
Thank you.
So how would you characterize the evolution of China-EU relations over the past 50 years?
Well,
I think this relationship is probably one of the most important diplomatic relations and cooperation relations in the whole world.
The EU is one of the largest economies in the whole world and also a very important political force internationally,