EU-Chinese 'misunderstanding' on the rise, senior Beijing official warns - by Andrew Willis

China's deputy foreign minister has warned that the level of "misunderstanding" between Brussels and Beijing is on the rise, despite the EU's new architectural framework, designed in part to improve the bloc's dialogue with the international community.

Ms Fu Ying made the comments in an interview with EUobserver in Strasbourg on Tuesday (6 July), ahead of a series of meetings with senior European Parliament officials. "I think the misunderstanding is strong on the European side and is growing on the Chinese side as well," said Ms Fu, whose portfolio includes handling her country's relations with Europe and Taiwan.

"Since 2008, the perceived China-bashing sentiment of European countries has hurt China and Chinese people," explained Beijing's most senior female official, whose previous positions include three years as ambassador to the UK.

European businesses say they receive unfair treatment when operating inside the Asian powerhouse economy, while the valuation of China's renminbi currency has attracted harsh criticism since an effective currency peg with the dollar was put in place in 2008.

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