PM Tusk in Bucharest for CEE-China talks

China's Premier Li Keqiang (R) welcomes Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (L) at the beginning of China-CEE (Central and East European Countries) Summit, at the Parliament Palace, Bucharest, Romania, 26 November 2013. Photo: PAP/EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

According to Tusk, future cooperation between the region and China should depend on concrete undertakings: he refered to the so-called “12 steps” set out by the then-Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Warsaw in 2012, which aim to make CEE-Chinese cooperation more dynamic in a number of fields.

At the meeting, Donald Tusk also pushed for greater bilateral promotion in tourism between the CEE region and China, as well as called for an “ambitious” scholarship programme for as many as 5,000 young people to study in China.

For his part, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that China will “make a major push” to expand investment and trade with the CEE region.

“The year of 2014 will be designated as the year for promotion of investment and trade between China and CEE countries,” the Chinese PM stated in Bucharest, as cited by the Xinhua news agency.

The CEE-China summit marks the continuation of the first such meeting in Warsaw in April last year.

This year the summit is being attended by sixteen heads of government from the region, including non-EU members such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.

Apart from the government working groups, an economic forum bringing together some 1,000 companies from China and the CEE region is also taking place in the Romanian capital. (jb)