As the integration of China's and Europe's interests deepens, ties between the two sides have already surpassed those based purely on trade. Both sides need to make more efforts to find the new growth point for bilateral cooperation, says an editorial in People's Daily. Excerpts:

The European Commission's latest prediction for spring is that the eurozone's economy will remain in a recession. The stalemate in the Italian election and the Cyprian bank crisis aggravate the prevailing pessimism over Europe.

But as the European debt crisis enters its fourth year, there are plenty of positive signals in the fluctuation of the European economy that point to a possible steady recovery on the continent.

The market's confidence is rising again. The European economy is demonstrating a strong recovery momentum. The eurozone's cargo trade surplus exceeded $16.5 billion this February, much higher than the same period last year. Europe has also achieved some success in building up the system to counter the negative influence of the ongoing crisis.

China's grasping the opportunity to push ahead bilateral ties with Europe and consolidating win-win cooperation are constructive measures. China and Europe can deepen their cooperation and promote exchanges in mutual investment, urbanization, new energy, advanced technologies, cultural industry, etc.

The global recovery is still full of uncertainties. If China, the largest developing country, and the Europe, the largest developed economy, can work in the same direction, they will make more contributions to the world economy.