President Xi Jinping is visiting Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan to improve ties with Central and Eastern Europe. (Photo : Getty Images)
Foreign ministry officials stated last week that Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is expected to enhance partnership projects, China Daily reported.
The itinerary of the eight-day trip, which began on Friday, includes Xi attending signing ceremonies for cooperation papers with Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan, assistant foreign ministers Liu Haixing and Li Huilai said.
Liu also said that Xi is visiting Serbia's Smederevo steel mill. The firm, founded in 1913, was recently acquired by Hesteel Group, China's largest icon and steel business group in terms of production capability, for 46 million euros.
Liu added that the construction of Serbian highways and power stations in ventures with Chinese firms is going smoothly.
Back in 2014, Serbia's Zemun-Borca Bridge, the first Chinese company-built bridge in Europe, was successfully opened, marking a good start for construction projects involving Chinese companies.
Additionally, Chinese authorities are inviting local firms to invest in Poland's nuclear power energy. The country has been China's biggest trading partner in CEE for the past 11 years.
Poland is coincidentally the only CEE country that has joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Liu noted.
For Liu Zuoki, an expert from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of European Studies, enhancing China's ties with Poland and Serbia will be beneficial in propelling the Sino-CEE relations.
As for boosting the China-Uzbekistan cooperation, Li said that Xi is attending a ceremony for a tunnel completion, a project which involves a Chinese firm.
The Chinese leader is also attending the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) Coouncil and Heads of States. The gathering will tackle the applications of Pakistan and India to join the group.
The SCO summit, coinciding with its 15th founding anniversary this year, is expected to create a huge impact on the organization's further growth.
