BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- As China and the European Union (EU) mark 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2025, their economic partnership is showing renewed strength and resilience, even against the backdrop of mounting global uncertainties.

Bilateral trade has expanded more than 320-fold over the past five decades, now standing at around 780 billion U.S. dollars, according to China's General Administration of Customs (GAC).

In the first quarter (Q1) of this year, trade between the two sides reached 1.3 trillion yuan (about 180.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.4 percent year on year. This translates to over 10 million yuan in trade every minute.

Behind these figures lies not just massive trade volume, but increasingly diversified and innovation-led cooperation.

In Q1, China's imports of advanced equipment from the EU jumped 30.4 percent to 64 billion yuan, accounting for nearly a third of China's total imports in this category. Meanwhile, China's exports of industrial robots and high-end machine tools to the EU surged 81.9 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.

For many European multinationals, these trends are translating into long-term investment decisions and expanded innovation footprints in China.

Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, told Xinhua in a recent interview that China is not only BMW's largest single market but also a vital hub for innovation.

Highlighting China's growing role in innovation, particularly in AI, Zipse said BMW plans to integrate AI technology from Chinese startup DeepSeek into its latest models in China later this year.

Likewise, European companies across various sectors are also strengthening their local presence.

Earlier this year, German industrial giant Siemens opened its first industrial ecosystem hub in western China. Leading Danish energy efficiency solution provider Danfoss officially launched its new campus in Nanjing, the company's very first carbon-neutral factory in China, in line with China's green development drive.

These moves came as China takes concrete steps to expand high-standard opening-up. Despite mounting protectionism and geopolitical tensions, the country has remained focused on building a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment for foreign firms.

According to this year's government work report, China will ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises in areas such as access to production factors, license application, standards setting, and government procurement.

Earlier this year, China released a new action plan to stabilize foreign investment. It includes 20 targeted measures to further expand market access, encourage foreign equity investment, and expand pilot programs to open up fields such as telecommunication and medical services.

China's unwavering efforts to open up, as well as the steady growth of the Chinese economy, have strengthened many European multinationals' determination to tap win-win opportunities in the world's second-largest economy.

Danfoss President and CEO Kim Fausing told Xinhua that the company is confident in China's market, citing its strong growth in sectors like data center, marine, and energy storage achieved last year.

He added that the company looks forward to deepening cooperation with Chinese partners to accelerate the green transition in China, and at the same time for the purpose of shared wins.

Wang Lingjun, deputy head of the GAC, said that China and the EU remain each other's most important trading partners, with highly complementary economies and closely intertwined interests.

"In a world marked by economic instability and growing uncertainties, China and the EU, with close communication and cooperation, jointly uphold free, open trade and investment, and maintain stable industrial and supply chains in the world, which will bring more stability and certainty to both sides and the global economy," Wang said.