Chinese Premier meets Romanian President

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Romanian President Traian Basescu on Wednesday in Basescu. [Photo by Li Xueren/Xinhua]

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Sino-Romanian cooperation is based on both mutual interests and friendship during a meeting with Romanian President Traian Basescu on Wednesday morning.

The premier said China is willing to make efforts along with Central and Eastern European countries, including Romania, to push forward pragmatic cooperation from a strategic perspective and with a long-term vision.

"The cooperation should combine interests with friendship, under which, the two countries can mutually benefit," he said.

Li met the president on the third day during his four-day visit to the European country. After the meeting, he delivered a well-received speech on deepening bilateral economic and cultural exchanges at the Parliament Palace.

It was the second speech that Li gave during his trip. On Tuesday, He gave a speech to nearly 1,000 business representatives at the Parliament Palace on the opening ceremony of the economic and trade forum of China-CEE countries, elaborating China's resolve to double trade volume with Central and Eastern countries in five years.

The Romania-bound trip is the first overseas visit of top Chinese leaders after the reform-focused Third Plenum of the CPC Central Committee concluded in Beijing and promised dozens of bold reform initiatives in early November.

During the trip, a series of economic deals were inked, including a railway linking Serbia to Hungary with the involvement of Chinese railway companies and a high-speed railway in Romania using Chinese technology.