Photo: VCG

LONDON, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) countries see China as an important partner in sustainable developments and combating climate change, said Vice President of the European Commission for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis in an event hosted by the City of London Corporation here Friday.

In the event focusing on opportunities for sustainable growth in Europe, Dombrovskis discussed the priorities of the new European Commission for sustainability and green finance. 

He noted that in Europe and the wider world, there are broad issues to address such as the fight against climate change, digitization and ageing societies. For the new European Commission, the next five years will be about managing these transformations effectively and fairly.

Responding to the question about the cooperation with China, he said: "In the sustainable developments, we certainly see China as an important partner as the world's second largest economy." 

Dombrovskis, who is also in charge of EU's Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, said: "We always welcome China's commitment to meet the climate goals...and China's engagement in the national sustainable finance platform." 

The Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell also said it is important to work with partners like China and Brazil in green financial solutions for sustainable developments. 

"We want the City of London to become an engine of the transition to a low carbon economy -- a global hub for green investment and also for green arbitration, accounting and technology," said Catherine McGuinness, chair of the Policy and Resources Committee of the City of London Corporation.

"But to achieve this, we will need new forms of cross-sector and cross-border collaboration," she said.

The Green Finance Committee (GFC) of the China Society for Finance and Banking and the City of London's Green Finance Initiative (GFI) jointly published a set of green finance guidelines for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) last year.

London is currently a world leading center for green finance, with 100 green bonds from 16 countries and regions raising more than 26 billion U.S. dollars. 

To further promote the sector, the City of London Corporation has launched GFI with support from the UK government, as UK's principal forum for public and private sector collaboration in green finance.