site.btaPrime Minister Borissov in Dubrovnik: "EU-China Partnership Is Factor for Peace and Prosperity"

119 POLITICS - DUBROVNIK - CHINA - SUMMIT amplified

Prime Minister Borissov in Dubrovnik:
"EU-China Partnership Is Factor
for Peace and Prosperity"


Dubrovnik, Croatia, April 12 (BTA) - Addressing Friday's plenary session of the 8th Summit of Central and Eastern European Countries & China (CEEC-China), held in Dubrovnik, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said: "To all of us who belong to the big European family of member states and countries which are on the path to EU membership, it is particularly important to deepen the all-around strategic partnership between the EU and China as a factor for peace, prosperity and sustainable development." Borissov's speech was quoted in a press release of the Bulgarian government.

The Prime Minister noted the positive results of the CEEC-China 16+1 Summit in Sofia in July 2018, which adopted a decision to set up a Global Partnership Centre for promoting 16+1 economic cooperation.

He pointed to some of the results of practical cooperation between Bulgaria and China, including the implementation of a 1.5 billion euro agreement between the two countries' development banks, the participation of Chinese companies in competitive bidding procedures for infrastructure and transport contracts in Bulgaria, and the planned establishment of Bulgarian visa centres in 15 Chinese cities.

Diesel and electric powered buses supplied by China are currently in use in Sofia and other Bulgarian cities and are received well by the public, Borissov said.

He raised the question of the limited scope of goods exported to China. "We count on the support of the Chinese government to map out concrete measures to expand and facilitate access to the Chinese market and speed up import permit procedures," he said.

Borissov noted that Chinese investments in Central and Eastern Europe should conform to EU rules. He said: "We attach great importance to our region's connectivity in terms of infrastructure, energy, the digital domain and tourism, in which China can play a major role."

***

Agriculture, Food and Forestry Minister Roumen Porodzanov and China's Minister of the General Customs Administration Ni Yuefeng signed a protocol for the sanitary and phytosanitary requirements for exporting Bulgarian sunflower groats and seeds. This happened on the sidelines of the Dubrovnik summit, Porodzanov's Ministry reported on Friday. Bulgaria will present to China lists of the enterprises that meet the established requirements for export, while China will register them for import. Bulgaria commits to exercise stringent control over the production and processing operations in order to guarantee the quality of the exported products. RY/VE
//