The delegation of the European Union to China on Jan 16 launched its first smartphone app, which can offer Chinese audiences easy access to a vast amount of up-to-date, interesting and entertaining information about the EU and its member states.

The delegation, during a news conference on the outlook for China-EU ties in 2013, said that the "EU in China App" can be downloaded for free by iPhone users.

"The reality is that more and more people are accessing the Internet through handheld devices, such as smartphones," EU Ambassador to China Markus Ederer said at the launch of the app.

"So it makes sense for us to keep up with the times and provide Chinese people interested in the EU with a mobile platform that can offer them up-to-date information on the go."

According to the delegation, the new app trawls Chinese-language weibo accounts and websites of the EU delegation and its 27 member states and categorizes information by topic, country or latest updates, so it can offer a large amount of information about the organization and its members.

Users can also log in via weibo, which allows them to join the debate.

The app is only available for iPhone users, but improved iPad and Android versions are coming, said the delegation.