Speaking at an EU-China aviation summit in Beijing on Thursday, EU Vice-President Jacques Barrot said he has asked for a mandate from European transport ministers to discuss aviation deals with China.

"The very issue on the agenda of the new UK presidency next week will, indeed, be a discussion about the commission's request for this global mandate," Barrot said.

China expects to start negotiations with the EU in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a joint declaration signed by Barrot and Yang Yuanyuan, director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), prior to the summit.

"We are ready to balance the interests of both the EU and China while revising existing bilateral air services agreements," said Wang Ronghua, director general of the CAAC's Department of International Co-operation.

Currently, only 20 European and Chinese airlines are allowed to operate China-EU routes, offering flights to 10 Chinese and 15 European cities.

At the moment, the total number of flights between the Chinese mainland and Europe each week amounts to only 226 passenger and 60 cargo flights.

"Growth forecasts suggest that EU-China air traffic will increase by around 7 per cent per year over the next 15 years," Barrot said.

Demand for air transport is being fuelled by a more than 15 per cent annual increase in EU-China trade. The EU is China's main trading partner while China is the EU's second largest trading partner after the United States.