Premier Li Keqiang and the President of the European Commission -- Jean-Claude Juncker -- were on hand on July 13 at the 11th EU-China Business Summit in Beijing.

He and Juncker met with business representatives to discuss trade issues and seek an agreement to promote bilateral trade and investment.

He said in his keynote speech that China values peace above all, and is acting aggressively to solve the problem of steel and coal overcapacity.

The Premier urged the EU to eliminate protectionism and emphasized the importance of opening up on both sides to increase bilateral investments.

He said, “First of all, we need to have peace and stability. Peace is the basis for development. There are a lot of instabilities and conflicts around the world. We suggest that countries involved in the conflicts solve the problems peacefully and constructively with negotiations.”

“China will continue to maintain and contribute to global and regional safety. We need to deepen trade cooperation. The China and EU economies are complimentary and if we further open up our markets, our trade ties will reach a new level.”

“China does not seek a trade surplus with the EU and is looking for more imports of mid to high end products from the EU. We wish that the EU will reduce restrictions on Chinese exports and eliminate trade protectionism.”

“Regarding the steel overcapacity issue, only 10 percent of the steel produced in China is exported and most of it doesn’t go to the EU. We do not encourage steel exports as it heavily pollutes our environment. We will reduce another 100 to 150 million tons of steel production and 800 million tons of coal production in the next three years.”