Croatia is hosting this year's meeting between the leaders of Central and Eastern Europe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The Chinese premier and the 16 heads of government are meeting for the 8th time. The 16+1 framework was originally designed to bolster trade between Beijing and the region. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic spoke to Croatians in the country's capital to hear their thoughts on the Eastern European countries' ties with China.

Almost 9 out of 10 Croatian citizens consider China a friendly country, and almost same number of them would like to see more Chinese investments in Croatia. Those were the results of a recent public opinion poll here in Croatia. We went to the streets of the capital Zagreb to see for ourselves.

TOMISLAV "I can say that investments coming from China, as a leading world economy, are welcome to Croatia."

SENKA JOVICIC "I personally like China and I think that in the future China will be the leading nation of the world and will shine even more. So, I think it is good to have China as a friend."

These pictures are from last summer when a number of police officers from China joined ranks with their Croatian counterparts to patrol the streets of several tourists sites here. It was an initiative from Croatian police to both strengthen relations with Chinese colleagues and also to make Chinese tourists feel more at home.

TOMISLAV GULAN HEAD OF STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL POLICE COLLABORATION CROATIAN MINISTRY OF INTERIOR "If some incident is connected with Chinese citizens, either if they are victims or perpetrators, in that case, Chinese police officers who are in the Republic of Croatia are called to assistance. They are the bridge between those Chinese citizens and our police."

It is not just the police and tourists that build bridges between the two nations. There is also a rapidly increasing number of joint projects.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC ZAGREB "Everything started with the Chinese investment into world-famous electric super-car producer Rimac Automobili, then followed by an investment in Krapinske Toplice Spa, and topped by the huge construction project for the Peljesac bridge."

And here is the latest Chinese acquisition in Croatia. The small port of Zadar on the Adriatic coast. On the eve of Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Croatia, expectations here are high that new investment and trade deals will be reached in spite of some opposition from the EU.

ZORAN METER EDITOR, GEOPOLITIKA.NEWS "I think there will be more Chinese investments in Croatia and the EU doesn't have the means to stop that. They will try to do something by changing the laws, to equalize the trade deficit with China. In the long term, balance will be reached, but regardless of everything China will get a stronger position in the EU and subsequently in Croatia as well."

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Zagreb in the evening of April 9th, starting his official state visit to Croatia, which will be followed by his attendance at the 16+1 meeting in the medieval coastal town of Dubrovnik. Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Zagreb.