China to enhance co-op with Central, Eastern Europe

China will enhance cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries as a secretariat was established in Beijing on Thursday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced a series of projects to push forward cooperation between China and countries in Central and Eastern Europe when he attended a summit in Warsaw in April. The establishment of a secretariat for cooperation between the countries was included in the plan.

Song Tao, secretary-general of the secretariat as well as China's vice foreign minister, said at a coordinators' meeting of the countries held in Beijing on Thursday that China and Central and Eastern European countries have steadily pushed forward pragmatic cooperation in economy, culture, education, tourism and other fields, and the secretariat will promote further cooperation.

Strengthening cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries is conducive to realizing a more comprehensive and balanced China-Europe relationship, as well as overcoming the current difficulties in Europe, according to Song.

China and Central and Eastern European countries proposed their next steps to push forward cooperation, respectively, and a series of inter-enterprise trade and economic cooperation agreements were signed on the sidelines of the meeting.

Central and Eastern European countries attending the meeting include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.