China is aiming to double trading volumes with central and eastern members of the European Union within the next five years. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) accounts for less than a tenth of China’s trade with the EU.
Speaking at an economic forum in the Romanian capital Bucharest, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proclaimed 2014 “the year of China-CEE investment and business ties.”
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta told delegates at the forum: “Cooperation between Central and Eastern European countries and China is part of the Europe-China relationship but it is a very special and complex part of it.”
The gathering in Bucharest came less than a week after an EU-China summit in Beijing, at which negotiations for a landmark bilateral investment treaty were launched.
