BRUSSELS, Jan 30: China and the European Union set aside past differences on Friday and vowed to work together to confront the global economic crisis and climate change.

After talks in Brussels, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also announced that a major summit, dropped due to differences over Tibet, would take place soon.

Trade between China and the EU has boomed in recent years to some 300 billion euros annually, and officials in Brussels warned their counterparts from Beijing about the need to keep markets open.

However Europe’s imports from China have grown by about 21 per cent per year for the last five years, leaving a trade deficit with the Asian economic giant of some 160 billion euros in 2007.

That imbalance has contributed to trade frictions, which have also flared over numerous anti-dumping cases against Chinese imports believed to be made at below cost.

“Globally we face an economic crisis without precedent in the post-war era and no one can claim to be completely immune. It is important that we address those issues in a global spirit,” said Barroso.

“Not only in terms of reinforcing confidence, looking for new supervisory and regulation mechanisms at global level, but also improving our dialogue on macroeconomic issues that are most of concern,” he said.

In Berlin Thursday, Wen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had agreed that protectionism must not be the answer to economic woes and pledged closer coordination on economic, trade and monetary policy to fight the slump.

The Chinese delegation, which included four ministers and several deputies, inked a raft of agreements on subjects ranging from counterfeiting and piracy to illegal logging, mine safety and civil aviation.—AFP