BEIJING - European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has arrived in China for a five-day visit during which the two sides will discuss their increasingly testy trade relations.

Mandelson is expected to try to explain a tough new EU approach to trade disputes with China when he meets his Chinese counterpart Commerce Minister Bo Xilai beginning on Tuesday.

A Chinese cyclist passes a huge banner promoting the EU-China partenariat in Chengdu. European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has arrived in China for a five-day visit during which the two sides will discuss their increasingly testy trade relations.[AFP]

A new EU policy paper raised eyebrows with its promise to drag China to the World Trade Organization in future disputes.

However, an EU official traveling with Mandelson said the trade chief will send an "emphatic signal for partnership" to the Chinese.

China is the EU's second-largest trading partner, after the United States, while the EU is China's top trading partner.

Over the past generation, bilateral trade has risen more than 60-fold, and as the stakes have risen, disagreements have been brought into starker relief.

The official, who asked not to be named, likened Mandelson's visit to a September trip by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Paulson announced a new "strategic economic dialogue" with China that will see the two sides meet twice a year to hash out their trade differences.

Mandelson's visit similarly will emphasize the importance of deep engagement with China, not just on trade but on a range of other issues, the official said.

"It's impossible to imagine addressing any global challenge anymore without China being part of the solution," he said.

Besides his meetings with Bo, Mandelson will meet with Chinese officials charged with enforcing intellectual property rights, address a gathering that seeks to boost Chinese investment in Europe and take part in a roundtable on global climate change.