China stands ready to work with Montenegro to uphold mutual respect and equality, consolidate political mutual trust, firmly support each other's core interests, and expand all-round mutually beneficial cooperation, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday.

Li made the remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajic in the coastal city of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province, where Spajic is attending the 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions.

Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Montenegro, Li said that China has always viewed Montenegro as a good friend and partner of Central and Eastern Europe and is glad to see a united, stable and prosperous Montenegro.

Li said that the Chinese side will continue to support Montenegro in following a development path that suits its national conditions.

China stands ready to work with Montenegro to promote more optimized and balanced development of bilateral trade, advance high-quality infrastructure development, and expand cooperation in areas such as information and communication technologies, green energy, the digital economy, and artificial intelligence, Li said.

He noted that China is willing to import more characteristic and high-quality products from Montenegro and encourages more capable and reputable Chinese enterprises to invest in Montenegro. It is hoped that Montenegro will continue to provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises, Li added.

Li also expressed the hope that Montenegro will play an active role in promoting the development of China-EU relations in the right direction.

For his part, Spajic said that Montenegro regards China as an important partner, expresses gratitude to China for its valuable support for Montenegro's economic and social development, and stands ready to continuously promote cooperation with China in areas like trade, investment, infrastructure, green economy, science and technology, education and tourism.

Montenegro attaches great importance to China's significant role and influence in international affairs and looks forward to becoming a bridge for practical cooperation between the EU and China after joining the EU, he said.

(With input from Xinhua)