Diplomatic relations between the EU and China began as late as 1975 when the Asian nation signalled its intention to become more open to the rest of the world.

Up to then and under the authoritarian leadership of Mao Zedong, or Chairman Mao, China had been left devastated by a long series of disastrous Marxist policies.

However, shortly before Mao’s death in 1976, China began to express a desire to develop relations with the outside world and the EU was one of the first to take it up on its offer.

In May 1975 diplomatic relations were established and Christopher Soames became the first European Commissioner to visit the People’s Republic of China.

After an internal power struggle following the death of Mao, the first trade agreement between the EU and China was signed in April 1978.

Relations developed slowly over the following years with inter-parliamentary meetings taking place, joint projects launched to help China develop and more agreements signed in agriculture and medicine.

In 1985 the EU and China signed an important Trade and Cooperation Agreement and seven other legally binding agreements, which still form the basis of relations between the two powers today.

In 1988 an official Delegation of the European Commission was opened in Beijing but relations soured the following year after the massacre of anti-government Chinese protesters at Tiananmen Square.

While contacts were resumed in 1990 it wasn’t until 1995 when the European Commission published a long term policy document for China-Europe relations that diplomatic ties developed further.

The policy has continued to evolve and has resulted in annual EU-China summits at which both parties discuss important issues and strive to reach agreements on subjects of mutual benefit.

The relationship has developed positively in recent years and on May 6, 2010 the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations was celebrated by EU and Chinese leaders.

A strong partnership between China and the EU is good for global stability and it’s something that can benefit tens of millions of Chinese and European citizens.

China’s economic development and trade relations with Europe have captured media attention in recent years but the EU-China partnership goes much deeper than that and covers many different areas.

• Science and Technology

Europe and China have been cooperating in science and technology since the early ‘80s. Both powers are jointly involved in the global ITER project that works to find new, sustainable sources of energy and China has previously been involved in Galileo, Europe’s flagship global navigation satellite system.

Around 150 Chinese researchers have also worked with European partners under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7), which provides funding for research and development projects, and a number of events held during China-EU Science and Technology Year in 2007 highlighted and demonstrated the importance of ongoing cooperation in science and technology.

• Transport

Transport is another area of cooperation between the EU and China. In September 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed setting up EU-China dialogue on strategies in both transport and energy sectors.

Since then official EU‑China Transport Dialogue has taken place three times - twice in Brussels (2006 and 2009) and once in Beijing (2008) – and a joint declaration on enhancing EU‑China civil aviation cooperation has also been signed.

The European Commission aims to hammer out a comprehensive EU‑China air services agreement in the future and a maritime agreement designed to improve shipping cargo transport operations came into force in 2008.

EU and China also cooperate to improve railway links between Europe and Asia by harmonising standards under the framework of the Organisation for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD).

• Energy and climate change

As well as working together with other world powers on the ITER project, The EU and China also have a partnership on climate change. The partnership was agreed at the 2005 EU-China Summit in Beijing and its focus is on concrete action to combat this global threat.

One of these actions was the China-EU Near Zero Emission Coal (NZEC) project aimed at developing and demonstrating carbon dioxide capture and storage technology that can reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants.

In 2010 the Europe-China Clean Energy Centre (EC2) based in Tsinghua University was inaugurated to help promote the use of cleaner energy technologies and supporting energy efficiency and conservation.

The EU and China continue to work together on the development of clean energy and low-carbon economy and several workshops and seminars on clean coal and smart energy grids have been held to enhance the Energy Dialogue.

• Security

The EU and China hold regular consultations at expert level on nuclear non-proliferation and conventional arms exports. EU-China dialogue on eradicating the illicit trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) has also been established and both powers have joined efforts in fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

The EU also holds regular high level consultations on fighting illegal migration and trafficking in human beings with China and has a customs cooperation agreement aimed at combating commercial fraud and counterfeiting.

• Human rights

The EU-China human rights dialogue was established in 1995 and is held twice a year, rotating between China and the EU, at the level of senior officials.

Topics up for discussion include: ratification of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); media freedom; human rights defenders; the death penalty; re-education through labour system; minority rights; and the rule of law.

The dialogue, along with pressure from other international partners, has seen some concrete results such as official visits to China by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, China’s signing of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the release of political prisoners.

However, the EU has made it clear on several occasions that it wants dialogue to achieve more tangible improvements in human rights on the ground.

• Education

The European Commission and China have signed memorandums of understanding on education, culture and multilingualism, which are designed to forge links of mutual benefit between Chinese and European students, researchers and academics.

The 2011 EU-China Year of Youth highlighted the benefits of student exchanges and the movement of researchers and academics between China and Europe as well as presenting opportunities to exchange experiences, contacts and project ideas.

The world renowned China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai and the China-Europe School of Law (CESL) are two examples of cooperation in education between the two powers.

China is also a beneficiary of Erasmus Mundus funding, with a specific funding of €26 million that has facilitated nearly 1,000 Chinese students to study in Europe.

Chinese participation in the EU's Marie Curie research fellowships programme is also increasing.

Europe and China have vastly different cultures and histories so projects and programmes that help our two peoples understand each other are important.

One such programme is Understanding China, which was created to develop a new business dialogue on China-related issues for European businesses, especially SMEs.

It consists of a range of initiatives including training programmes and SME roundtable talks to propose policies that can help smaller businesses trade with China.

Another current project is the EU-China River Basin Management Programme , which is helping the Chinese develop new environmentally friendly approaches to river basin management practices.

Other current projects part funded by the EU include Rewriting the Future which aims to improve early childhood care and development for marginalized, Chinese children and another programme that targets the poverty and health of older people in rural China.