The first London-Yiwu freight train, carrying containers laden with British products, pulls into Alataw Pass in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region during its trip to Yiwu, China, April 24, 2017. /Xinhua
China plans to import more than $170 billion worth of goods from Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) in the next five years, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the China-CEEC Summit in Beijing on Tuesday.
Stating that China is willing to expand imports from the CEEC, Xi said the country aims to double the number of agricultural products it imports from the region and set a target to increase the trade volume for agricultural products by 50 percent.
According to President Xi, China will accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern, featuring dual circulation, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay and allows domestic and foreign markets to boost each other.
The country will also strive to promote the further opening-up by easing regulations, management and standards, and continuously create a market-oriented, legalized and internationalized business environment.
China's continued development and opening-up will inject strong momentum into the recovery and growth of the world economy, which will also provide a broader space for China-CEEC cooperation, Xi said.
He said compared with nine years ago, the trade volume between China and the CEEC has increased by nearly 85 percent, and the number of two-way tourist exchanges has increased nearly four times. Meanwhile, the China-Europe freight train covers most of the CEEC, with more than 30,000 trains running.
A large number of cooperative projects such as the Piraeus port in Greece, the Smederevo steel plant in Serbia, and the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia have also achieved gratifying results, Xi said.
He also emphasized that China and the CEEC should build an e-commerce dialogue mechanism and a public health industry alliance.
The president also commended the member states for "taking steps early" to partner with China through the Belt and Road Initiative, saying they showed innovative and pioneering spirit.
China and the CEEC have taken steps early on to explore the possibility of aligning cross-regional cooperation with Belt and Road cooperation, making Central and Eastern Europe the first region where all countries have signed agreements on Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said.