China and Montenegro will work together to promote the development of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, said Chinese President Xi Jinping and Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic during their phone talks on Wednesday. 

Highlighting good relations with Montenegro, President Xi said that the bilateral cooperation in key areas such as transport infrastructure and energy has yielded remarkable results, which are driven by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and within the cooperation mechanisms between China and CEE countries. 

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the two countries have supported each other and conducted cooperation in economic recovery as well as epidemic prevention and control work, the Chinese president said. 

Noting that 2021 is the China-CEEC Cooperation's Year of Green Development and Environmental Protection, Xi said that China supports Montenegro in playing an active role within the China-CEEC Environmental Protection Cooperation Mechanism established in Montenegro. 

Djukanovic congratulated the Communist Party of China on its 100th anniversary and thanked China for its valuable support for Montenegro's economic and social development as well as the fight against COVID-19. 

The BRI and the CEE countries-China cooperation mechanism have brought important opportunities and tangible benefits to the development of Montenegro and other countries in the region, the president of Montenegro said. 

Montenegro is willing to advance cooperation with China in infrastructure, economy and trade, education, culture and tourism, and welcomes more Chinese enterprises to conduct investment cooperation in Montenegro, he added. 

"I am fully confident that cooperation between China and Montenegro, and between CEE countries and China, will flourish in the future," Djukanovic said.