STORY: Europe, China should "continue to build relationships in all areas": Spanish expert
DATELINE: June 16, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:22
LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): JUST CASTILLO, Professor, East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
2. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): JUST CASTILLO, Professor, East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona

STORYLINE:

A Spanish expert of international politics said on Wednesday that Europe and China should continue to build relationships in all areas as they did before.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): JUST CASTILLO, Professor, East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
"There's a lot of fluidity in commercial, personal and cultural relations, and there's no one recipe; it's about continuing to cooperate wherever possible."

Castillo said the relations between Europe and China are diverse and multi-faceted, although there would be friction sometimes.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): JUST CASTILLO, Professor, East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona
"Bearing in mind that Europeans and the Chinese function according to very different systems, it's nothing new for certain issues to sometimes create a little friction or tension in bilateral relations."

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

Trade and economic cooperation between the two sides has remained resilient and dynamic over the past years.

Last year, China-EU bilateral trade hit a new high of 847.3 billion U.S. dollars.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.
(XHTV)