Barroso to visit China next month

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and a number other commissioners are set to visit China next month, although the exact timing is still undecided.

EU officials confirmed the scheduled visit on Wednesday (10 March), with economy, trade, energy and climate issues among the topics up for discussion.

Mr Barroso is set to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, while other commissioners will meet with their respective counterparts.

EU trade chief Karel De Gucht is among those almost certain to be part the European team, with the Belgian politician scheduled to chair the annual session of the High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue (HED) while in China.

Chinese and EU officials agreed to set up the dialogue at a November 2007 summit, providing the two sides with a regular forum for discussion of economic issues, including market access concerns and the imbalance in trade flows.

Climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard is also among the names expected to participate in the visit, the first of its kind since the formation of the new commission. The EU is keen to restart climate negotiations after last December's acrimonious UN negotiations in Copenhagen.

It is unclear whether the EU's high representative for foreign affairs Catherine Ashton will accompany the delegation.

The visit will follow a tradition set in 2008, when Mr Barroso visited Beijing with nine commissioners in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties.

The following year Mr Wen travelled to Brussels with a large number of Chinese officials.