On June 12, Vice President Zhang Wei, leading a delegation, visited Latvia and met with Speaker Inese Lībiņa-Egnere.
Speaker Lībiņa-Egnere first welcomed Vice President Zhang Wei's visit. She pointed out that the bilateral relations between Latvia and China are developing smoothly, with frequent high-level exchanges and steady progress in cooperation across various fields. Thanks to the good political relations, trade between China and Latvia has grown rapidly, and there is great potential for cooperation. Latvia's geographical location is advantageous, and its economic growth rate is currently leading in the European Union. International rating agencies have upgraded the country's credit rating. Latvia will join the Eurozone in January 2014 and has received an invitation to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which will further enhance its international influence. Currently, the Latvian government is vigorously developing various infrastructure projects. As a gateway to the European, Russian, and former Commonwealth of Independent States markets, Latvia will become a reliable partner for China. It is hoped that Chinese entrepreneurs will seize the opportunity of Latvia joining the Eurozone to further strengthen cooperation and jointly explore market potential. Speaker Lībiņa-Egnere also stated that the China-Central and Eastern European Countries cooperation mechanism advocated by the Chinese government is an important opportunity to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between Latvia and China. The two countries should fully utilize the platform of the mechanism's secretariat to promote enterprise project cooperation. She emphasized that the European Union and China should commence negotiations on a bilateral investment protection agreement as soon as possible, and through active consultations, further eliminate investment barriers to facilitate mutual access to each other's markets.
Vice President Zhang Wei expressed gratitude to Speaker Lībiņa-Egnere for her positive contributions to promoting the development of bilateral relations. Vice President Zhang stated that currently, China-Latvia economic and trade cooperation should focus on expanding the scale of bilateral trade, promoting Chinese enterprises to invest in Latvia, and encouraging Chinese tourists to travel to Latvia. In the morning, the China-Latvia Economic and Trade Forum was successfully held, where entrepreneurs from both countries took the opportunity to communicate fully, enhancing mutual understanding and trust, laying a foundation for further cooperation. Latvia's accession to the Eurozone will make cooperation between Chinese and Latvian enterprises closer. The business associations of both countries should fully utilize various platforms to introduce Latvia's favorable business and investment environment to China. It is believed that with the active promotion of both governments and the business community, China-Latvia economic and trade cooperation will usher in a brighter future. Vice President Zhang invited Speaker Lībiņa-Egnere to attend the "China-Central and Eastern European Countries Investment Cooperation Forum" to be held in Chongqing in early July.
The Chairman of the Latvia-China Business Association and former Minister of Economics, Jānis Vitenbergs, our Ambassador to Latvia, Yang Guoqiang, Economic and Commercial Counselor Liu Jun, and Deputy Inspector of the International Liaison Department, Li Qingshuang, attended the meeting.
