EU president, in China, stresses rule of law

(SHANGHAI) - Economic development and the rule of law go hand-in-hand, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said Wednesday as he ended a visit to China, which has launched its toughest crackdown on rights activists in years.

Van Rompuy said the importance of the rule of law had echoed throughout the protests that have rocked the Arab world this year -- and prompted Beijing to tighten its iron grip on dissent.

"The rule of law is indispensable for the flourishing of any modern economy," Van Rompuy said at the start of a wide-ranging speech at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

"It is a lesson we learn time and again, most recently in the context of the Arab Spring," he said.

"Sustainable economic and social development and stability cannot exist without the underlying fundamentals of rule of law, social justice, and human rights."

China has come under fire from Europe, the United States and others after the ruling Communist Party in recent months launched its fiercest crackdown on dissent in years.

Chinese authorities, apparently spooked by the wave of pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Middle East, have detained dozens of lawyers, artists and other perceived critics.

Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister, made the comments at the final public event of his three-day visit to China.

After meetings with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, he was scheduled to meet 95-year-old Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, the officially-recognised head of Shanghai's Catholic diocese.

The meeting with the bishop was a private visit, a spokesman for the European Union's delegation in China told AFP.

Authorities in Beijing have arrested dozens of members of one of China's largest unregistered Protestant churches in recent weeks to prevent them from holding services.

In his speech at the Shanghai business school, Van Rompuy also called on China to lift restrictions that make it difficult for European companies to compete in the world's second-largest economy.

"There is a feeling in Europe that economic openness in China could further improve," he said.

Improved market access, a better investment environment and opening up public procurement were all necessary, he said.

"In modern societies, people will only accept the downsides of international competition if their own country has a fair chance to win abroad what it loses at home," he said.