President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the College of Europe in the Belgian city of Bruges, April 1, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Embracing harmony in diversity

President Xi sees many similarities between China and EU. In his own words, China and EU, as the biggest developing country and biggest union of developed countries in the world, are two powers for safeguarding world peace, two markets to boost development and two cultures to promote human progress.

The similarities provide great potential and plenty of opportunities for cooperation between the two sides.

China also embraces diversity, which Xi elaborated using a metaphor in his speech at the College of Europe in the Belgian city of Bruges in April 2014.

"The Chinese people are fond of tea and the Belgians love beer. To me, the moderate tea drinker and the passionate beer lover represent two ways of understanding life and knowing the world, and I find them equally rewarding," he said.