China meets Europe in Bucharest
The Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang is paying a working visit to Romania between November 25 and 28. The visit is aimed at boosting political and economic relations with Romania.
România Internațional, 25.11.2013, 12:20
On Tuesday Bucharest is playing host to the third edition of the China-Central and Eastern Europe Economic Forum, organized by the Romanian Government. Attending are the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, and other heads of government from 16 countries in the region, as well as some 1,000 representatives of private and state-owned companies.
The first edition of the Forum was held in Budapest in 2011, while the second was venued by Warsaw in 2012. This will be the first visit by Prime Minister Li to Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the first visit ever to Romania by a Chinese Prime Minister over the last 19 years. Prime Minister Li will be heading a delegation made up of high-ranking officials and nearly 300 representatives of major Chinese businesses with an interest in Romania and neighbouring countries.
On the sideline of the event, a meeting will be held reuniting the heads of government from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as the Latvian Foreign Minister. The Forum is aimed at fostering economic and trade relations between participant countries and China and to come up with new vistas for cooperation by means of clear-cut projects, with a focus on infrastructure, transports, energy, agriculture, IT, tourism and the banking and financial sector.
According to the Chinese Prime Minister, two-way trade between China and Central and Eastern Europe in 2012 exceeded 50 billion dollars. The meeting in Bucharest follows shortly after China and the EU have launched negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement aimed at improving mutual access to the markets in the EU and China respectively.
The Forum represents a high-level political event as well as an important opportunity for the Romanian Government to develop relations both with China and regional relations. Prime Minister Victor Ponta gave assurances that the goals of the meeting add to the EU-China relations and partnership. In turn, Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said that the China-Central and Eastern Europe Economic and Trade Forum was “a process furthering EU-China relations”.
The statements followed a recent article carried by the Financial Times, arguing that Prime Minister Li’s visit to Bucharest allegedly sparked concern in Brussels, where the visit is seen as a “divide and conquer” strategy aimed at putting pressure on EU-China relations. On the other hand, the Chinese Ambassador to Bucharest Huo Yuzhen has told Xinhua news agency that Prime Minister Li’s visit to Bucharest will breathe new life into Romanian-Chinese cooperation and friendship and help develop relations with countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
