The summit was originally set for December last year but China called it off to protest against a meeting between the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who then headed the European Union's rotating presidency.

While EU-China relations have warmed since then, the issue of the Dalai Lama remains a sore point, especially since he is supposed to return to Europe in the coming weeks to visit France, the Netherlands and Denmark.

"In conducting strategic cooperation between China and the European Union the most important thing is to stick to the principles of mutual respect and not interfere in each other's internal affairs," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said.

He also stressed the need to "accommodate each other's major concerns, properly handle sensitive issues and work to ensure that our balanced relationship will not be affected by individual incidents."

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who hosted the summit because his country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said that European side did not steer clear of the sensitive issue of human rights.

"Human rights is something we in Europe consider as extremely important and we are very pleased that this topic will be... part of (our) strategic partnership dialogue for the future," Klaus said.

Wen also pressed the EU-side, which included European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, on trade.

"We hope that the European Union will relax its restrictions on the export of high-tech products to China," he said, also urging the EU to grant China market economy status and lift a long-standing arms embargo.

Market economy status is a standard often used in anti-dumping cases. Recognition as a market economy raises the bar for when a country can be considered to dump products on the world market.

Two-way trade has exploded in recent years, making the EU the top destination worldwide for exports of Chinese goods while China is Europe's biggest trade partner after the United States.

Last year they traded 326 billion euros (441 billion dollars) in goods, with Europe running a 169.4 billion euros deficit with China.

Wen said that Beijing would soon dispatch a Chinese delegation on a European procurement mission after a similar buying spree earlier this year.

On the Europeans side, Barroso leaned on China to commit to ambitious efforts to fight climate change in light of an key meeting in Copenhagen at the end of the year, where a new international treaty on cutting carbon emissions is to be negotiated.

"What is needed is a clear engagement of all major economies to make a deal possible in Copenhagen. For that to happen, each of us must put his positions on the table," Barroso told a news conference in the Czech capital.

"I am sure that China will also engage fully and build on progress made recently," he added.

Beijing has in the past stressed that it is already doing a lot to fight climate change, insisting instead that it is up to rich, developed countries to reduce their pollution levels.

Wen said that China was ready to cooperate on finding the right balance of sharing the burden on climate change.

"China stands ready to work with the European Union to stick to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and push for positive outcomes at the Copenhagen conference," Wen said.

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