EU should put trade ties with China in perspective: Chinese FM spokesperson

BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) needs to put trade ties with China in perspective and honor its commitment to free trade, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.

Mao made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to a query about EU's industry chief telling press that the EU plans to expand tools to address imbalanced trade with China.

"International trade is a two-way street. There's no forced trade," Mao said, adding that the China-EU trade relations are win-win in nature.

Noting that China does not aim for trade surplus, Mao said anyone who focuses only on trade in goods while ignoring trade in services and investment returns, on pure quantities while overlooking trade structure and profit flows, and on imports from China while neglecting one's own export sees nothing but imbalance.

She said whatever the terms "de-risking," "reducing reliance" or "trade imbalance," they are just different names for protectionism, and will only hurt the interest of European consumers, raise companies' costs and weaken Europe's industry competitiveness in the long run.

"China will closely follow the EU's moves and take all measures necessary to safeguard legitimate rights and interests," Mao said.