国际英语新闻：Yuan likely to come up at Sino-EU summit

Van Rompuy said the Lisbon Treaty requires the European Council to define the EU's strategic interests, give strategic direction and deepen its involvement in the EU's foreign policy.

"I hope there will be a maximum discussion and exchanges in an open manner," said Nijs.

Regarding technology transfer, Nijs said he wouldn't expect it to happen at a government-to-government level, but instead at a business-to-business level.

"We should not blame anyone (for global climate change) because it's useless, and we have to work together to prevent the world becoming unlivable," Nijs added.

The ambassador pointed to China's efforts in sustainable development, and said that the nation deserves more credit than it has been given by Europe. "People in Europe should be a little bit more aware that China didn't just look on and let others do the work now we have to find a common standard to measure the level we have reached and the next level we aim at," said Nijs.

Nijs said the best way to solve the problem of the arms embargo on China is for all EU member states to have a discussion behind closed doors.

"We are really working to understand China's position on that. I know how close it is to the heart of China and how they think the EU is not acting fairly on that."

However, the ambassador stressed there has to be a consensus among all EU member states before the embargo can be lifted.

Van Rompuy said the EU economic outlook was not good, whereas others in the world were growing rapidly. "Moreover, we started to realize how the economic strength of emerging countries is transforming into real political power," he said.

"This affects us. New players do not always share our interests and world views," Nijs added.