Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao exhorted the European Union on Thursday to end an arms embargo on his country and give it the status of a market economy in order to boost co-operation.
Wen, visiting Brussels to hold talks with top EU officials, reassured an audience of businessmen that he intended to slowly cool China's economic growth rather bring it to a sudden halt.
"We have expressed the hope that the EU will lift its arms embargo and give us the status of a market economy," Wen told a news conference after meeting European Commission President Romano Prodi.
"We think that a solution to these issues would be good for both sides."
EU states, which also want to thrash out tough trade questions, are divided about ending the arms embargo, imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, with some wanting more progress on human rights. Diplomats have said the United States has also exerted pressure to maintain the arms trade ban.
Wen said China was making progress on rights and reiterated a promise to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it signed in 1998.
Prodi said discussions were carrying on within the EU on lifting the embargo, but had better news on the question of giving China the status of a market economy.
Such a move would have symbolic value for Beijing, but also practical benefits by reducing trade barriers to Chinese goods.
"We will give a preliminary assessment of market economy status by the end of next month," Prodi said.
China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 and has since become the EU's second-largest trading partner.
But fears have been expressed that its economy is overheating. Wen said this was not true for the whole economy, but noted the flow of money and credit was going too fast.
"We should reduce speed but we mustn't have a very sudden slowing, this is what people refer to as a soft landing of the Chinese economic transformation," Wen told a business conference. He did not give details of government plans, but said it would "act in good time and act very resolutely".
He also addressed accusations by some EU and US industrialists that the yuan was artificially undervalued thanks to its link to the dollar.
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