EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy yesterday said the mainland was still lagging in meeting some WTO pledges, but he described relations between the two political giants as the best in years.
Mr Lamy also raised concerns over the European Union's growing trade deficit with the mainland, though he said it had yet to become a political problem.
'More than two years after entry to the WTO, we still have too many outstanding or delayed issues,' Mr Lamy told business executives in Shanghai.
He made the comments after meetings in Beijing with Vice-Premier Wu Yi and newly appointed Minster of Commerce Bo Xilai during a two-day visit to China.
Mr Lamy said he brought a 'laundry list' of trade concerns to the meetings in Beijing. Regarding the value of the yuan, he called on Beijing to gradually allow it to float more freely. 'This sort of peg to the dollar has no rationale. We know this will change and we know it will take time,' he said.
China was the EU's second-biggest trading partner last year, behind the United States, with total trade volume of more than Euro135 billion (HK$1.28 trillion), he said. The grouping's trade deficit with the mainland was Euro50 billion.