Everyone seems to be doing it. Angela Merkel and David Cameron have talked up the benefits of doing business with a prosperous China while US Secretary of State John Kerry attended the annual China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue. Joseph Muscat signalled very early on that he wants a piece of the action too.

Last week, Dr Muscat made his second visit to China since he became Prime Minister and he is obviously very keen to exploit what the world’s second largest economy – which has witnessed annual GDP growth rates of nine to 10 per cent for 30 years – can offer Malta in terms of business collaboration. Malta’s EU membership is without doubt our number one selling point when dealing with Beijing, a fact which China has duly acknowledged.

The five-year cooperation plan signed between Malta and China in Bejing in the presence of Dr Muscat and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang has the potential to significantly expand economic ties between the two countries.

Malta is right to want to expand its commercial ties with Beijing, but it is important that any business deal is in our long-term interest and does not lead certain economic sectors to become overly dependent on China.

Any agreement entered into with China must be based on good business sense, and Dr Muscat’s statement during his Chinese visit that any decisions taken will not be political but commercial is certainly welcome.

Malta and China are already cooperating in the energy sector, and in March an agreement was signed through which Shanghai Electric Power agreed to buy a 33 per cent stake in Enemalta as well as a majority control of the BWSC power station in Delimara in return for an injection of €320 million in the debt-stricken corporation. While such an investment is without doubt welcome, the transfer of full ownership of the Delimara plant to Shanghai Electric Power is certainly questionable.

Last week’s Malta-China memorandum of understanding explores the potential of further cooperation in a number of areas, namely energy, including cooperation in a waste-to-energy plant and the development of renewable energy resources; the infrastructure, including a breakwater, bridge and monorail projects; civil aviation; financial services; research and innovation; and various other sectors such as education, health, the digital games sector and tourism.

Such an accord could lead to a number of projects and agreements which benefit the Maltese economy in terms of job creation and GDP growth. Indeed, Sai Mizzi, the controversially-appointed Malta Enterprise representative to Asia, told Times of Malta last week that a major Chinese digital products company is interested in setting up a free trade zone in Malta to showcase its products in Europe.

There is little doubt that economic cooperation with China both bilaterally and as part of the EU is beneficial for both sides. However, we cannot overlook the fact that China is still a dictatorship and its pace of political reform does not compare at all with its impressive economic transformation.

The Chinese State media, for example, reportedly left out the parts of Ms Merkel’s speech last week at Tsinghua University which were related to human rights and freedom.

In their rush to jump on a potentially lucrative bandwagon, EU countries should not shy away from bringing up the subject of human rights when engaging in dialogue with China, while at the same time encouraging further cooperation between the two sides.