(BEIJING) - A senior European Union official urged China Wednesday to address a yawning bilateral trade imbalance, arguing the EU nations export even less to the Asian giant than it does to Switzerland.

"We are aware that the European Union has become the most important export market for China," said Heinz Zourek, European Commission Director General for Enterprise and Industry.

"However, our exports going to China are smaller in size than our exports going to Switzerland," he said at the start of a meeting with the top Chinese agency in charge of quality control.

In 2006, EU exports to China, which has a population of more than 1.3 billion, were 63.4 billion euros (90.2 billion dollars), while those to Switzerland stood at 86.8 billion euros, according to European statistics.

The trade deficit with China has continued to widen, rising by 25 percent so far this year compared with 2006, a fact the European Union is "following with great attention", said Zourek.

Another thorny issue surrounding the influx of Chinese-made goods is product safety, he said.

Chinese products have been at the centre of a spate of recalls ranging from dangerous toys to poisonous seafood.

"We must not agree to compromise on the safety -- whatever the quality level, the product has to be safe," said Zourek.

"We have to make sure that we have been addressing the two issues (trade deficit and product safety) in a serious way and in a way which would contribute to the solution."

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