On May 3, 2012, Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the European Commission building.

Li first conveyed the cordial greetings from Premier Wen Jiabao to Barroso. Li said the purpose of his current visit to the EU headquarters is to enhance communication and understanding, push the two sides to implement the consensus of the 14th China-EU Leaders' Meeting, strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and promote China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership.

Li said that China's long-term and stable economic development has favorable conditions and also provides an important opportunity for strengthening China-EU cooperation. Urbanization and energy saving are of great significance to China's sustainable development and Europe has advanced concept, technologies and management in this field. The vice premier urged European countries to be "more flexible and open" to the transfer of high technologies to China, in order to deepen the integration between European technologies and Chinese markets, and to step up cooperation in new energy, especially clean energy sector. Stepping up innovation and protection of intellectual property rights could also contribute to Sino-EU economic and trade cooperation, and stimulate economic growth on both sides, he said. Li noted a steady euro currency and a stable European economy were conducive to a steady economic growth of the world and could benefit China as well. He said China firmly supported the integration of Europe, and hoped to see a united, strong and prosperous Europe.

Barroso, meanwhile, asked Li to convey his regards to Premier Wen. Since the establishment of EU-China diplomatic relations 35 years ago, both sides have learnt from and promoted each other, contributing to their respective development. EU-China relations have been deepening and their cooperation has been strengthened and become more fruitful with more global influence. He thanked China for its support for the integration of Europe. He said the EU was dedicated to deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership with China, and that both the EU and China had the obligation and responsibility to further push forward their cooperation. He noted that Europe had considerable experience and expertise in urbanization, and was willing to enhance exchanges and mutual support with China. Barroso cited energy as a focus of current Sino-EU collaborations, urging both sides to step up policy coordination to improve cooperation in this field. He also called on both sides to improve investment collaborations, create a favorable legal environment for mutual investment, and make most of the already existing people-to-people exchange mechanism to improve mutual understanding.

Following the meeting, Barroso held a working luncheon for Li. Both sides discussed other issues such as cooperation within the Group of 20, and jointly combating climate change.