THE HAGUE, Dec. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- China and the European Union (EU) have hailed the dynamism of their trade relations best demonstrated by their becoming each other's key trading partners.

    In 2004, the EU becomes China's largest trading partner and China becomes the EU's second largest trading partner, according to the joint statement issued after the seventh China-EU summit here Wednesday.

    Leaders from both sides welcomed the China-EU Business Summit held on the sidelines of the summit meeting. They reiterated their commitment to maximize mutual benefits of such relations by improving market access and increasing investment opportunities for each other.

    The leaders also stressed the importance of fully implementing their World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments and strengthening the multilateral trading system.

    The EU side agreed to continue to assist China's efforts in capacity building and both sides welcomed the launching of the second WTO support program for China in 2004.

    Moreover, they welcomed the progress made in the Doha Development Agenda in July and the new momentum in the Doha round of negotiations. They agreed to intensify their cooperation with a view to successfully preparing the WTO ministerial meeting in HongKong.

    Meanwhile, they noted that increased bilateral consultations have helped to make substantial progress in a number of trade issues, in particular the lifting of trade restrictions. Enditem