China has again shown itself to be a rainy day friend to the European Union (EU) in the face of the sovereign debt crisis besetting some EU members.
Bilateral trade and investment involving China and Germany will continue to rise as both governments strengthen their efforts to build better economic ties, said Sun Yongfu, director of the department of European affairs at the Ministry of Commerce.
China and the United Kingdom will see bilateral trade and mutual investment boom in the coming years, experts and officials are predicting.
Eu countries' relationships with China have been paradoxical. On the one hand, they like to criticize China. On the other, they find it hard to do without China, especially on the economic front. Some of their criticisms have ranged from the Nobel Peace Prize issue of last year to so-called human rights cases recently. At the same time, they have been preparing for dialogues and exchanges with China to gain more from business ties and trade.
Having completed more than half of his intensive five-day itinerary in Europe, Premier Wen Jiabao has been delivering China's decisive message that it will continue to bolster its partnership with European countries struggling with debt crises and economic recession.
The EU is trying to develop a common strategy toward China but is handicapped by differing views among its 27 EU member states on issues such as lifting the arms embargo and granting China market economy status.
There is a broad political significance in purchasing more Eurobonds.
What does China think now it is rising? What does China's rise mean to the outside world? Is it possible for China to rise peacefully? All these questions are tough to answer.
Europe is in constitutional crisis. No one seems to have the power to impose a sensible resolution of its peripheral countries' debt crisis.
A temporary leave of absence from the eurozone would allow Greece to achieve a price-level decline relative to other eurozone countries, and would make it easier to adjust the relative price level if Greek wages cannot be limited.
Greece has bought some time with a new package of financial support, but the country is not out of the woods yet.