Chinese vice premier in Czech for closer ties

China and the Czech Republic is turning a new page on bilateral relations as Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli arrived here Wednesday evening to forge closer ties with Czech and other Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC).

Zhang is the first senior Chinese leader that visited the Czech Republic in nearly five years. As the two countries are to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Zhang is to meet with Czech President Milos Zeman and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka on further advancing bilateral ties and China-Europe relations.

China-Czech relations have been picking up steam since Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Zeman in Sochi, Russia, in February. During the meeting, Xi said the two sides should take the anniversary of the forging of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to bring bilateral relations to higher levels.

Zhang's visit to Czech is aimed at implementing the consensus that the presidents reached on the development of bilateral relations. The two sides will also discuss cooperation in areas of manufacturing, infrastructure development and investment.

During his visit, Zhang will also address the second China-CEEC local leaders meeting which will bring together more than 1,000 participants from local governments and companies in China and the 16 Central and Eastern European countries.

As a platform for local governments and business circles, the meeting is the second most important platform within the mechanism of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, after the China-CEEC leaders meeting.

In an earlier meeting with visiting Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea in Beijing, Zhang said China is ready to push forward the China-CEE cooperation and the all-round strategic partnership between China and the European Union.

Czech is the second leg of Zhang's three-nation trip which has taken him to Turkmenistan. After the visit to Prague, Zhang will travel to Russia for an energy cooperation meeting and to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of a China-Russia natural gas pipeline.