Chinese premier vows more cooperation with Slovenia, BiH

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday pledged to expand cooperation in various fields with Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on the sidelines of a meeting of China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC).

More economic cooperation with Slovenia

As part of the 16+1 cooperation, Slovenia signed a cooperation agreement with China within the Belt and Road Initiative at the sixth meeting of heads of government of China and the CEEC in the Hungarian capital city of Budapest.

"I am happy," said Cerar when talking about the agreement with China. "It is very important to us."

Cerar said Slovenia's trade with China has witnessed an increase of 35 percent over the past three years, stressing that the Belt and Road Initiative contributed to the growth.

Delegates attend the third ministerial summit on cooperation in tourism between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nov. 24, 2017. /Xinhua Photo‍

The initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, comprises the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and aims to revive and expand cooperation and exchange on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes, which nurtured trade between Asia and the outside world in the past.

Meanwhile, Cerar said Slovenia has attached great importance to technological cooperation and is ready to work with Chinese companies in this field.

The prime minister also said more areas of economic cooperation lie ahead, such as tourism, adding that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Slovenia grew by nearly 20 percent during the last year.

"Therefore, we are working on establishing better transport connections, including an airline route between Slovenia and China," said Cerar.

"This initiative has already been signed by over 60 countries, and China has become our biggest trade partner outside of the European Union and the Western Balkans," said Pocivalsek.

More practical bilateral cooperations with BiH

The third ministerial summit on cooperation in tourism between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nov. 24, 2017. /Xinhua Photo‍

Li also met with Denis Zvizdic, BiH Chairman of Council of Ministers.

China eyes to speed up energy cooperation, a pillar of their practical cooperation, and hopes to facilitate such energy projects as power plants, Li said.

The two countries should also deepen cooperation in infrastructure, make use of BiH's location advantage to facilitate cooperation between China and the Balkan region, expand cooperation in agricultural product processing and equipment manufacturing, Li said.

Moreover, the two countries should step up cooperation on people-to-people exchanges and tourism, given the opportunity presented by the visa-exempt agreement signed during the 16+1 meeting.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Budapest, Hungary, Nov. 28, 2017. /Xinhua Photo‍

The country is ready to implement the consensus reached so far, and push ahead with cooperation in inter-connectivity, transportation infrastructure, power plant, agriculture, tourism, and culture.

Explore more cooperation areas with Macedonia

China and Macedonia agreed on Tuesday to advance cooperation on various fields such as infrastructure construction.

China hopes that Macedonia can give full play of its advantages and take an active part in the construction of the China-Europe land-sea express, said Li. China would also like to explore cooperation with Macedonia on new industries such as digital economy, he said.

Zaev said Macedonia welcomes Chinese enterprises to participate in the Balkan country's transportation construction.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Macedonia. China will take the opportunity to further forge ahead bilateral ties, Li said.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency