Li's landmark trip to boost China's ties with Romania, CEE

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming trip will inject fresh vigor into China's friendly ties and practical cooperation with Romania and the broader Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), said China's ambassadress to Romania. [Special coverage]

During his stay here, Li will pay an official visit to Romania - the first of its kind in 19 years - and carry out a string of multilateral and bilateral activities with his counterparts from 16 CEE countries, including a round-table leaders' meeting and a trade forum.

The tightly scheduled trip "will set a new milestone" in the development of both China-Romania relations and China-CEE cooperation, Ambassadress Huo Yuzhen told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Friendship and cooperation have always been the keynote of the China-Romania relationship, said Huo, noting that with political mutual trust growing since the beginning of the 21st century, the two sides upgraded their ties to a comprehensive, friendly and cooperative partnership in 2004.

Recalling that Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta visited China for a China-CEE local leaders' meeting in July and met with Chinese President Xi Jinpingand Premier Li, Huo said bilateral relations have entered an important phase of development.

On bilateral trade, the ambassadress said Romania is not only one of the major destinations for Chinese investment in CEE but also an important trading partner of China in the area.

China has for years been Romania's second largest source of imports outside the European Union, with bilateral trade reaching 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first three quarters this year, she added.

The bilateral trade still has ample room for further development, and Romania has the potential to become a larger trading partner of China, stressed the ambassadress.

On the rapidly growing China-CEE cooperation, Huo said China-CEE relations have a solid historical and political foundation as CEE countries were among the first ones to recognize the People's Republic of China after its founding.

Although China and CEE countries have chosen different paths of development, practical cooperation has been the mainstream of their interactions with huge potential to be tapped, she noted.

Huo pointed out that CEE countries boast an advantageous location, a sound industrial basis, a marked edge in workforce quality and labor costs, and a good momentum in overall economic development.

With China speeding up its economic restructuring, revving up the domestic demand and pushing forward with its "go global" strategy, CEE countries hope to become a gateway for Chinese enterprises to explore the European market, she said.

The ambassadress urged CEE countries to join hands with China to grasp the valuable cooperation opportunities to promote each other's development and cope with future challenges.

She also expressed confidence that the leaders' meeting will help further China-CEE practical cooperation, improve the relevant mechanisms and bring China-CEE cooperation to higher levels and broader areas.