On January 31, five days after the advent of the Chinese Year of the Ox, visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao joined jubilant crowds on Gerrard Street in London's Chinatown. He was there to convey New Year's greetings to overseas Chinese in London.

"I hope all overseas Chinese are confident about the motherland's development, all entrepreneurs are confident about making investments and everyone is confident about his or her life," he said.

Confidence really matters at this time of crisis. The financial turmoil has affected developed and developing countries alike and is taking a heavy toll on the real economy. The overall growth of China's exports has slowed, making a major impact on regions with an export-oriented economy. Small wonder then that Wen went out of his way to bolster confidence during his European tour from January 27 to February 2. During his weeklong "confidence tour," the Chinese premier visited Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Britain and the European Union (EU) headquarters in Brussels. He also attended the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Switzerland's ski resort of Davos.

Wen's visit sent a clear signal that China is determined to stimulate economic growth and work together with other countries to overcome difficulties, said Feng Zhongping, Director of the Institute of European Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. In coping with the financial crisis, Feng believes, China and European countries could jointly oppose protectionism to revive trade growth.

Renewing ties

In a joint declaration issued after Wen's visit to Brussels, China and the EU agreed to strengthen coordination on macroeconomic policies in an effort to address the financial crisis and promote trade and investment liberalization. Both emphasized that an "open, free and fair" trade and investment environment is an important means to tackle the financial and economic crises.

At a meeting in Brussels, Wen and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso agreed that strengthened China-EU cooperation has implications for the world at large in the face of the current international situation. They decided to convene a high-level forum on economy and trade in April in the hope of further promoting trade and economic links. They also agreed to hold a China-EU summit in 2009.

The 11th China-EU summit, originally scheduled for December last year, was postponed after French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country at that time held the rotating EU presidency, met with the Dalai Lama.

"Owing to reasons known to all, China-EU relations experienced some twists and turns last year," said Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Hongbo at a press conference shortly before Wen's trip. "But China believes firmly that the direction of development of China-EU relations and the desire of both sides to enhance cooperation to cope with challenges will remain unchanged. China's policy of giving priority to the all-round China-EU strategic partnership will never change."

Serge Abou, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to China, was also optimistic. He said relations between China and the EU in 2008 were "very good" despite the postponement of the summit. "The whole year has seen extraordinary development of our bilateral relations," Abou told a press conference in January.

During Wen's visit, China and the EU signed a number of agreements in the fields of civil aviation, workplace safety, clean energy and the protection of intellectual property rights.