Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, addresses the China-CEE (Central and Eastern European) Countries Political Parties Dialogue in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 6, 2016. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Liu Yunshan said on Thursday that Central and Eastern Europe is a key region for building the Belt and Road Initiative and a priority area in China's external exchanges and cooperation.
Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the comment when addressing the opening ceremony of the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) Political Parties Dialogue, the first of its kind within the China-CEECs cooperation mechanism, dubbed as the 16+1 framework.
"The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and advocated by the Chinese government, is a major move for China's opening-up on all fronts, fits in line with the theme of peace and development, and accords with the internal need of all countries to accelerate development. It will present more development opportunities to the world and open up more space for coordinated development of China and CEECs," Liu said.
Over the past three years, the Belt and Road Initiative has increasingly become a new driver of global economic recovery, a new bond for exchanges between Asian and European civilizations and a new platform for improving global governance, he said.
"It has been proved that jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative helps boost prosperity and regional economic cooperation among countries along the Belt and Road, enhance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations and promote world peace and development," Liu said.
He called on China and CEECs to respect each other, enhance political mutual trust, maintain close high-level exchanges, implement consultation and dialogue mechanisms and consolidate traditional friendship to lay a solid political groundwork for deepening consultation.
Liu urged both sides to pursue win-win outcomes and synergize development strategies by promoting policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people ties, bringing about a new win-win situation featuring aligned development, mutually reinforcing growth and integrated interests.
He said both sides need to focus on major projects in priority areas of infrastructure connectivity, industrial cooperation, materializing some key projects at a faster pace to bring more tangible benefits to all countries, adding that people-to-people and cultural exchanges and friendship among the people should be strengthened.
Political parties in China and the CEECs enjoy a long history of interaction and it is their shared responsibility to make good use of the "16+1" cooperation platform and advance the Belt and Road Initiative to release the potential for cooperation, Liu said.
Political parties should shoulder the responsibility of strengthening political guidance and consolidating strategic mutual trust, conduct candid dialogue on major issues concerning the Belt and Road Initiative and the "16+1" cooperation and translate the political dialogue outcomes into government policies, Liu said.
"We should build consensus among political parties and coordinate operations, focus on common interests and resolve differences and disputes through dialogue and consultation," Liu said, adding that political parties have the responsibility of increasing understanding between the peoples and translating cooperation vision into tangible benefits to the peoples.
The CEECs leaders, including Viktor Orban, president of Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance and Prime Minister of Hungary, Vojtech Filip, leader of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and vice president of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, thanked the CPC for creating the dialogue platform for political parties to discuss development strategy, overcoming ideological and geographical differences.
The Belt and Road Initiative is a grand peaceful proposal to promote cooperation and win-win development. The initiative, rooted in China's profound philosophy and culture and love for peace, will guide the Europe-China relations for the coming decades and enable both sides to contribute to world peace, security and development, the CEECs representatives said.
They said political parties in the CEECs were delighted to engage in building the Belt and Road Initiative and are willing to work with the CPC to play a politically guiding role to lead the think tanks, civil organizations and the public to implement the initiative and make efforts for the peace and prosperity of China, the CEECs as well as the world.
Liu arrived in Budapest earlier Wednesday for a two-day official good-will visit to Hungary. Liu is taking on an Asia-Europe tour, which took him to Mongolia and Greece ahead of Budapest.
