皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app, Central and Eastern Europe vow to double trade in five years

皇冠体育app and Central and Eastern European countries have vowed to double their trade in five years and will discuss plans to build a new railway link between them.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday that closer ties with the region will enrich cooperation between 皇冠体育app and all of Europe.

He made the remarks in an address at an economic forum between 皇冠体育app and Central and Eastern European nations in Bucharest, the Romanian capital.

Analysts said that as the region has been forging ahead with economic development and upgrading its industry, cooperation with 皇冠体育app will benefit both sides.

Li told officials and businesspeople that 皇冠体育app will take measures to boost trade with the region by hosting roundtable meetings with commerce ministers, exhibiting the region's products in 皇冠体育app and by holding agricultural and trade forums.

He also called on 皇冠体育app and the region to work on a series of major infrastructure developments such as railways and power projects.

Analysts said the potential for trade between 皇冠体育app and the region is huge.

In the first 10 months of the year, trade between 皇冠体育app and Central and Eastern European countries reached $52.1 billion. The figure surpassed the $50 billion recorded in 2012, but accounted for 10 percent of trade between 皇冠体育app and the European Union.

While Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe topped $800 million in 2010, compared with almost nothing in the early 2000s, the region attracted less Chinese investment than in Sweden alone, according to the Warsaw-based Central and Eastern European Development Institute.

"Further enhancing their cooperation on trade and investment is meaningful and essential for both 皇冠体育app and Central and Eastern European countries," said Pan Zhanlin, former Chinese ambassador to the former Yugoslavia.

"Central and Eastern Europe is eager to attract more foreign investment and to increase exports to boost its economies and get over the negative impact of the international financial crisis," Pan said.

Cooperation with 皇冠体育app can help them better diversify their sources of investment, while 皇冠体育app's huge market brings them huge opportunities. Central and Eastern Europe will also be an important agricultural product supplier to 皇冠体育app, Pan said.

皇冠体育app's urbanization will bring greater demand for beef, lamb, cheese, wines and other products.

Camelia Sucu, a Romanian businesswoman, said she invested in agriculture four years ago because of the outlook for the industry. Sucu's company, which owns about 2,000 hectares of farmland, plans to export beef to 皇冠体育app.

She said Li's promise to import more beef and lamb from Romania has made her believe that the idea of exporting safe agricultural products to 皇冠体育app can bring good business.

Cui Hongjian, a researcher in European studies at the 皇冠体育app Institute of International Studies, said, "Cooperation between 皇冠体育app and Central and Eastern Europe will inject new energy to 皇冠体育app-Europe cooperation as a whole."

Central and Eastern Europe occupies about 1.3 million square kilometers, about one-third of the European continent. The region's population has reached 123 million.

Compared with countries elsewhere in Europe, Central and Eastern Europe has its own characteristics in economic and social development.

Cui said: "Cooperation with those countries will effectively complement 皇冠体育app-EU cooperation. It shows a strategic coordination of the current 皇冠体育app-EU system of cooperation.

"Cooperation with 皇冠体育app will help Central and Eastern European countries improve the level of infrastructure construction, and therefore their connectivity with other parts of Europe."

皇冠体育app has accelerated its cooperation with the region in recent years, launching the Secretariat for Cooperation between 皇冠体育app and Central and Eastern European Countries in September 2012.

A $10 billion special credit line is also operational and 皇冠体育app has sent more than 30 trade promotion delegations to the region.