Li Keqiang's European visits set new chapter
- By Guo Jiali
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 27, 2012
Vice Premier Li Keqiang will pay official visits to Hungary, Belgium and the EU headquarters in Brussels from April 30 to May 4.
During Li's visit in Hungary, he will exchange views with Hungarian leaders on China-Hungary relations, witness the contract signing between financial corporations, agricultural enterprises and businesses in other fields from China and Hungary, and attend people-to-people exchange activities.
Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao said Hungary is one of the most important trade partners of China in Central and Eastern Europe. China and Hungary have enjoyed enduring friendship and supported each other in international issues.
During Premier Wen Jiabao's visit in Hungary last June, the two countries signed 12 trade agreements covering investment, infrastructure construction, cultural products and other fields totaling as much as US$1.8 billion. By 2011, the number of Chinese-invested enterprises in Hungary has gone up to 4000, with total investment of US$2.5 billion, while Hungarian investment in China has exceeded US$300 million.
Li's next visit will be Belgium. China and Belgium's bilateral relations have developed smoothly over the 40 years since establishing diplomatic ties. As one of the earliest Western countries to have transferred technology to China and set up joint ventures in China, Belgium has become China's seventh largest trade partner in Europe, and bilateral trade volume was up by 32.4 percent from the previous year to US$22.14 billion in 2010. It grew further from January to May 2011, up 33.1 percent over the same period with US$11.3 billion.
Li will hold talks with King Albert II of Belgium and Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, and pay visits to Belgium's leading enterprises.
Song said the EU headquarter will be Li's last stop and the most important visit in his schedule. The vice premier will meet with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and exchange views on China-EU relations and issues of common concern.
China and EU leaders will also attend the China-EU high-level conference on urbanization and China-EU Energy summit during Li's visit.
Ambassador Wu Hailong, head of the Chinese delegation to the EU, said Li's visit will mark another important high-level exchange between China and the EU this year. The visit aims to further implement agreements reached during the 14th China-EU Summit. He also said that China and the EU should work together to develop bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective.
During the first China-EU Summit held in London in April 1998, leaders of both sides agreed on establishing a long-term stable strategic partnership and a mechanism to allow annual meetings.
Li's European tour will open a historic new chapter for continued cooperation between China and European countries, Song said.
