BEIJING - The 14th China-EU summit was launched in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, focusing on the current European debt crisis, bilateral ties and cooperation.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso attended the summit.

At the beginning of the summit, Wen said mutual understanding and joint efforts to deal with difficulties and challenges were in the common interests of China and the European Union (EU).

China and the EU should send a positive and powerful message to promote China-EU cooperation and the unity of the international community, according to Wen.

Van Rompuy said that it was important that the EU and China work together to promote bilateral cooperation and address global issues.

Barroso said that both the EU and China had put a lot of effort into the summit.

The summit was previously slated for last October but was postponed due to EU leaders scrambling to combat the eurozone debt crisis.