Chinese Premier Li Keqiang took leaders from 16 Central and Eastern European countries on a post-summit trip to Shanghai aboard a high-speed train, China Daily reported, to showcase Chinese bullet train technology.
Li and the leaders, many of whom were first-time visitors in China, took the world's fastest bullet train from Suzhou in Jiangsu Province to Shanghai on Wednesday morning, Nov. 25. They came from the recently concluded Fourth Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (16+1).
From Suzhou, it took the passengers 20 minutes to get to Shanghai, located 110 kilometers away.
From Shanghai, the European leaders then boarded a plane to Beijing to attend meetings with President Xi Jinping scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday.
To commemorate the special event, the outer skin of the bullet train's cars were decorated with flags of China and the participating CEE countries. A mathematical formula--16+1=17--was also included as a sign of growing cooperation between China and the region.
The CEE leaders took advantage of the post-summit trip to inspect the bullet train themselves.
Prime Minister Miro Cerar from Slovenia tested the train's semi-transparent luggage rack, made of tempered glass, by placing his bag on it.
Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, on the other hand, confided in China Daily plans of buying high-speed trains from China.
"China is in talks with the CEE countries on more transportation projects," said Li, adding that the country's fast, safe, and not to mention inexpensive high-speed trains perfectly meet the needs of CEE countries.
As a result of the talks, China, Hungary and Serbia recently finalized documents on Tuesday, Nov. 24, to build a railway that connects Budapest and Belgrade. China will be in charge of financing and constructing the project.
Experts agree that growing relations between China and CEE countries can pave the way for more opportunities in the EU.