China and Europe need to build four "bridges" to enhance their friendship and cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday.

Speaking at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, Xi said the bridges will make the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership take on even greater global significance.

A bridge of peace linking China and the EU, Xi said, would mean multilateralism and dialogue instead of war, unilateralism and confrontation.

China stands ready to work with the EU to let the sunlight of peace drive away the shadow of war and the bonfire of prosperity to warm up the global economy in the cold early spring, the Chinese leader told his audience.

On a bridge of growth, Xi said China and the EU, whose economies account for one third of the global economy, must uphold open markets, speed up negotiations on an investment agreement, actively explore the possibility of a free trade area, and strive to achieve the goal of bringing two-way trade to US$1 trillion by 2020.

Efforts are needed to study how to dovetail China-EU cooperation with the initiative of developing the Silk Road economic belt so as to integrate the markets of Asia and Europe, energize the people, businesses, capital and technologies of Asia and Europe, and make China and the EU the twin engines of global economic growth.

Speaking of a bridge of reform, the Chinese president said that both China and the European Union are pursuing reforms unprecedented in human history and may enhance dialogue and cooperation in the macroeconomic, public policy, regional development, rural development, social welfare and other fields.

On a bridge of common cultural prosperity, Xi said China represents in an important way the Eastern civilization, while Europe is the birthplace of Western civilization.

"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," Xi said.

The Chinese people value the idea of preserving "harmony without uniformity," and in the EU people stress the need to be "united in diversity," Xi said, calling for joint efforts for "all flowers of human civilizations to blossom together."

In spite of changes in the international landscape, China has always supported European integration and a bigger role in international affairs by a united, stable and prosperous EU, he said.

The president said China will soon release its second EU policy paper to reiterate the high importance it places on the EU and on its relations with the bloc.

"Last year, China and the EU jointly formulated the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, setting out ambitious goals for China-EU cooperation in nearly 100 areas," he said.

The two sides should work in concert to turn the blueprint into reality and strive for greater progress in China-EU relations.

Belgium was the last leg of Xi's Europe tour, which also took him to the Netherlands, France and Germany.