Premier Li's Eurasia tour to unleash potential for regional co-op(2)

NEW DRIVING FORCE FOR CHINA-EUROPE TIES

When attending the China-CEE meeting in Serbia, Li will discuss major plans for cooperation with leaders of 16 Central and Eastern European nations.

Kong Tianping, a research fellow on Europe studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said the 16+1 meeting mechanism, as a new platform for China-CEE cooperation launched in 2012, will enormously increase the two sides' political will for bilateral cooperation.

Last year, Li attended the second leaders' meeting of China and CEE countries in the Romanian capital of Bucharest and the two sides sketched out 38 cooperation projects, 80 percent of which have been put into practice.

China and the CEE countries have already made great progress in some big cooperation projects, as Chinese enterprises' cooperation with Serbia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other countries in the region have yielded fruitful results in the area of infrastructure construction.

The two sides have also set up a platform for cooperation in the fields of education and culture.

"It is noteworthy that among the 16 CEE countries, 11 have joined the European Union (EU) and the other five have also set a target for the membership in the bloc," Kong said.

"China-CEE cooperation is an important element of China-EU relations, whose in-depth development will not only become a 'new driving force' for the two sides' cooperation, but also be conducive to the balanced development of bilateral ties," he added.

Serbia, the host country of the meeting, has enjoyed a profound traditional friendship with China and plays a decisive role in China-CEE relations.

In 2009, it became the first CEE country to establish a strategic partnership with China.

Li's visit to Serbia is of positive significance to consolidating and developing bilateral relations, Kong noted.