China and Central and Eastern European countries have traditional friendly and cooperative relations. In recent years, political relations between the two sides have developed steadily, with frequent high-level visits and continuously deepening political mutual trust, creating favorable conditions for mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation. China-CEE cooperation is an important component of China-EU relations. Continuing to deepen economic and trade cooperation between China and CEE countries not only helps the two sides complement each other's advantages and achieve win-win cooperation, but also is of great significance for comprehensively enhancing the scale and quality of China-EU cooperation and promoting regional cooperation and comprehensive balanced development in Europe.

    Economic and trade cooperation has withstood the test of the financial crisis and reached the best level in history, with complementary potential yet to be tapped

    Currently, economic and trade cooperation between China and CEE countries is flourishing and at the best level in history. Trade between the two sides has withstood the test of the financial crisis and achieved steady growth. According to China Customs statistics, the import and export trade volume between the two sides reached US$52.1 billion in 2012, an increase of 18.7% over 2010. Mutual investment has continued to expand, and cooperation areas have become increasingly diverse. According to incomplete statistics, Chinese enterprises have invested more than US$3.5 billion in CEE countries, and the 16 CEE countries have invested more than US$1.1 billion in China.

    Cooperation in infrastructure construction between the two sides has been highlighted, deepening the integration of mutual interests. Projects implemented with Chinese loans, such as the Belgrade Danube Bridge in Serbia, the first-phase renovation of the Kostolac Power Plant, and the Stanari Thermal Power Plant in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been smoothly launched, and a number of cooperation projects are under active discussion. These extensive and fruitful cooperation efforts have greatly enhanced the friendly feelings between the peoples of China and CEE countries and laid a solid foundation for deepening future cooperation.

    China and CEE countries are all at a critical stage of development. Not long ago, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made overall arrangements for comprehensively deepening reform, and China will usher in a new round of reform and opening up. China is also accelerating the modernization of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agriculture, and is committed to creating an "upgraded version" of the economy. In the next five years, China will import more than US$10 trillion worth of goods and make outbound investments of US$500 billion. The fruits of China's reform and opening up will not only benefit its own people but also provide huge development opportunities for countries around the world, including CEE countries.

    The Central and Eastern European region is the most dynamic and promising region in Europe and a transportation hub connecting East and West, with a very important geographical location. This region covers 16 countries with a total area of about 1.34 million square kilometers, nearly one-seventh of China's and one-third of the EU's; and a total population of 123 million, nearly one-tenth of China's and one-quarter of the EU's. In 2012, the combined GDP of the 16 CEE countries was about US$1.45 trillion, with a per capita GDP of about US$11,800, and some countries ranked among the top European countries in economic growth. Automobiles and parts, machinery and equipment, chemicals, and agricultural and food processing are advantageous industries in the CEE region. But overall, the economic complementarity potential between CEE countries and China remains to be tapped. The total trade of the 16 CEE countries with China is only over US$50 billion, less than one-tenth of the EU's total trade with China.

    Comprehensive upgrade of China-CEE relations achieved, striving to double bilateral trade volume within five years

    Under the new circumstances, deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and CEE countries conforms to their respective development characteristics and cooperation needs and faces new opportunities and space. China and CEE countries have similar development levels and strong economic complementarity, especially with huge cooperation potential in infrastructure construction such as energy, railways, and ports.

    During the second meeting of leaders of China and CEE countries, the energy departments of China and Romania signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear power cooperation, and enterprises of the two sides signed a letter of intent for Chinese participation in the investment and construction of Romanian nuclear power plant units; the prime ministers of China, Hungary, and Serbia jointly announced cooperation in building the Hungary-Serbia Railway, and many countries expressed hope to cooperate with China on the construction or renovation of railways, ports, power stations, and other projects. The huge demand for infrastructure construction in CEE countries will provide rare opportunities for Chinese equipment, including large complete sets of equipment such as nuclear power and high-speed rail, to go global. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs from China and CEE countries attended the Third China-CEE Economic and Trade Forum, fully demonstrating the strong desire of both sides to seek cooperation and achieve win-win results and showcasing the vitality of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

    This meeting of leaders of China and CEE countries achieved a comprehensive upgrade of China-CEE relations. The proposal of the Bucharest Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of enterprises on both sides for cooperation and injected strong impetus into practical cooperation, especially economic and trade cooperation. In the period ahead, the scale of trade and mutual investment between China and CEE countries is expected to further expand, and cooperation areas will be further broadened.

    The Chinese Ministry of Commerce is willing to work with relevant departments of CEE countries to actively promote bilateral trade and investment facilitation and strive to achieve the goal of doubling bilateral trade volume within five years at an early date. We will further encourage Chinese enterprises to import high-quality products, including agricultural products (8.37, -0.05, -0.59%), from CEE countries and promote the coordinated development of bilateral trade. To this end, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce will hold the CEE Countries' Specialty Products Exhibition and the China-CEE Ministerial Meeting on Economic and Trade Promotion in China in June 2014 to help CEE countries promote their products and promote the steady and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations. During the 2014 China International Fair for Investment and Trade, we will also hold the China-CEE Investment Policy Seminar and Investment Promotion Conference to build a platform for bilateral investment cooperation, matchmake investment enterprises of both sides, and promote the development of an all-round and multi-field investment cooperation pattern.

    At the same time, with the smooth implementation of the "US$10 billion special loan" and the launch of the "China-CEE Investment Cooperation Fund," the number of major project cooperation and mutual investments between the two sides is expected to increase significantly. Cooperation in service trade, finance, transportation and energy infrastructure construction, and connectivity will develop rapidly, and cooperation in high-tech, innovation, environmental protection, new energy and renewable energy, and agriculture will also bring unprecedented new opportunities for bilateral cooperation.

    (The author is Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative)

    Poland

    Launches "Go China" Strategy

    By Li Zengwei, our correspondent in Poland

    Poland is the largest country in Central and Eastern Europe by area and population. Since 2005, Poland has been China's largest trading partner in CEE for eight consecutive years, as well as China's largest agricultural product trading partner in the CEE region, and the first CEE country whose trade volume with China exceeded US$10 billion. At the same time, China is Poland's largest export destination in Asia and Poland's largest trading partner in Asia. In 2012, the total trade between China and Poland was US$14.38 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%, setting a new historical high.

    At the end of 2011, China and Poland signed the Joint Statement on Establishing a Strategic Partnership between China and Poland, opening a new period in the history of China-Poland relations, and China-Poland economic and trade cooperation has also shown new vitality. In the past two years, while bilateral trade volume has continued to expand, China-Poland economic and trade cooperation has shown a diversified trend. Poland's trade volume with China has grown rapidly, with export growth significantly faster than imports. At the same time, China's direct investment in Poland has increased rapidly, and China-Poland economic and trade cooperation has gradually entered a new stage of sound development.

    The areas and methods of China-Poland economic and trade cooperation are increasingly diversified. Majman, President of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency, told our correspondent that for a long time, due to Polish enterprises' lack of understanding of the Chinese market, the variety of goods exported from Poland to China has been limited and their competitiveness low, resulting in a long-standing large trade deficit for Poland. In March last year, the Polish government officially launched a strategic plan called "Go China," with multiple government departments including the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Information and Foreign Investment Agency working together to build a platform, mobilize various types of Polish enterprises to enter the Chinese market, actively seek economic and trade partners, and at the same time attract investment from Chinese enterprises.