EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said crises in Ukraine and other global hot spots would be on the agenda at two days of Sino-EU talks in Beijing from yesterday, state media reported.
It is the first visit to China by the new EU leadership since its parliamentary elections last year. The two-day meetings include talks with State Councillor Yang Jiechi , Beijing's top foreign policy official.
Mogherini said she was confident the EU and China could agree on a common approach on climate change ahead of negotiations on carbon reductions in Paris this year.
She told Xinhua she was looking forward to "discussing how we can enhance our cooperation to bring an end to a number of crises and how we can prevent others".
"This should be a new way of dealing with complexity: thinking strategically, looking at worrying signs that emerge and trying to prevent crises," she said.
Xinhua said she was referring to events in Ukraine, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Libya.
The European Union is at odds with Russia over the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Ukraine, while Moscow and Beijing are drawing closer over global issues.