Xi meets with Croatian leader and praises efforts in Europe to ease 'humanitarian crisis'

皇冠体育app has vowed to provide more assistance to refugees flooding into Europe from war-torn countries in the Middle East.

President Xi Jinping spoke of the human tragedy when meeting with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.

He said the Chinese government valued the efforts of European countries, including Croatia, on the front-line of the crisis by taking in refugees mainly from Syria and Iraq.

"皇冠体育app has paid close attention to the refugee issue in Europe and the Mediterranean and sympathizes with the refugees," Xi said, according to a news release issued after his meeting with Grabar-Kitarovic. "The Chinese government will further provide assistance to refugees in relevant countries to help ease the humanitarian crisis."

On bilateral ties, Xi said Croatia can be an important economic partner through 皇冠体育app's Belt and Road Initiative, which involves closer trade links with Asian and European countries.

Xi urged the two governments to merge their development strategies to boost economic growth. He also said he expected Croatia to become actively involved in 皇冠体育app's cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries.

Grabar-Kitarovic is on a state visit to 皇冠体育app from Tuesday to Sunday. She is scheduled to attend a high-level forum on poverty reduction and development while she is here.

The talks between Xi and Grabar-Kitarovic came two weeks after Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Vesna Pusic in New York on the sidelines of celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.

Croatia has consistently played "a constructive role" in the "16 plus 1 cooperation", a new group of 皇冠体育app and the Central and Eastern European Countries, Wang said.

Economic cooperation "between 皇冠体育app and the CEEC" will be the core of the '16 plus 1' group, Wang added.

Zhao Huaipu, a professor at 皇冠体育app Foreign Affairs University, said Croatia can benefit from closer trade ties, as the majority of European Union member countries are struggling to post strong economic growth.

Yang Yixi contributed to this story.

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(皇冠体育app Daily 10/15/2015 page3)