BEIJING, Dec. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao leaves here on Tuesday afternoon for The Hague to pay an official visit to the Netherlands and attend the seventh China-EU Leaders' Meeting on Wednesday.

    European leaders to attend the meeting are rotating EU president and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

    Following is a chronology of the annual event since 1998.

    -- On April 2, 1998, the first China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in London where Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji meets EU presidentand British Prime Minister Tony Blair and European Commission President Jacques Santer.

    In a joint declaration issued at the end of the meeting, the two sides agree to establish a long-term and stable constructive partnership and to hold such a meeting once every year.

    -- On Dec. 21, 1999, the second China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Beijing, during which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, EU president and Finnish Prime Minister Lipponen and European Commission President Romano Prodi review the ties between China and EU member countries before reaffirming their commitment to developing a lasting and stable constructive partnership by expanding and deepening cooperation.

    -- On Oct. 23, 2000, the third China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Beijing, in which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, EU presidentand French President Jacques Chirac and European Commission President Romano Prodi discuss China's entry into the World Trade Organization, expansion of cooperation in science, energy, information and education, crackdown on illegal immigration and dialogue on human rights and judicial cooperation between the two sides.

    -- On Sept. 5, 2001, the fourth China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Brussels, Belgium, in which the talks between Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and EU president and Belgian Prime Minister GuyVerhofstadt and European Commission president Romano Prodi focus on furthering political dialogue, expanding economic and trade relations and communication in science and technology, promoting environment protection and energy cooperation, and cooperating in fighting human smuggling and illegal immigration.

    -- On Sept. 24, 2002, the fifth China-EU Leaders' Meeting is held in Copenhagen, Denmark, during which Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, EU president and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and European Commission president Romano Prodi stress the need to expand and deepen the Sino-European cooperation based on equality and mutual benefit so that the Sino-European partnership will be brought to a new high.

    -- On Oct. 30, 2003, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, EU president and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, European Commission president Romano Prodi attend the sixth China-EU Leaders' Meeting,which is held Beijing. During the meeting, the two sides sign a number of cooperation documents including an agreement on Galileo satellite navigation cooperation and a memorandum of understandingon the EU countries becoming an approved destination for Chinese tourists. Enditem