VALLETA: A European expert on China-EU cooperation has expressed optimism over the perspective of collaboration between Beijing and Brussels despite concerns expressed by some EU officials. In a recent written interview with Xinhua, Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, a Brussels-based business-led association, said that in the coming five years, China is expected to import 8 trillion euros of goods, attract 600 billion euros of foreign investments and make 750 billion euros of outbound investment, and Chinese tourists will make 700 million overseas visits. “For the EU consumers and business, China is an opportunity,” Gambardella stressed. On a recent statement by a senior European official that China can be a threat to the EU, Gambardella said such a statement has misunderstood the term EU, because it represents 500 million consumers who have benefited from cooperation with China. “Their mistake was to confuse the term EU with the 500 million consumers living in the EU member states. For the EU consumers and business, China is an opportunity,” Gambardella said.