The European Union and China have agreed to boost trade opportunities for smaller businesses, resist trade protectionism and push for a global agreement to lower tariffs and cut subsidies, the European Commission said Friday.

After a meeting Friday between E.U. trade commissioner Catherine Ashton and Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, the commission said the two sides had agreed to maintain strong trade relationships as a way to counteract the negative impact of the global financial crisis.

"We must continue to keep our markets open and create new opportunities for our businesses to trade and invest," Ashton said in a statement. "More than anything else, we should resist protectionist pressures and seek an early conclusion to the Doha Round," referring to the global trade negotiations begun eight years ago in Doha, Qatar.

Those talks stalled at the end of last year due to disagreements mainly between the U.S., China and India. Countries have been waiting to see what position the Obama administration will adopt on the negotiations.

Despite pledging not to erect trade barriers, the E.U. has placed duties on several products imported from China, saying Chinese companies are dumping their products on the E.U. market.

-By Matthew Dalton, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1487; matthew.dalton@dowjones.com

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