Premier expects big share for CEE nations in Chinese market

Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday he hopes Central and Eastern European countries will have a bigger share in the huge Chinese market when he met the media with his Hungarian counterpart Orban Viktor and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Budapest.

China-CEEC cooperation has seen enormous achievements, beyond expectations, in many areas, Li said. For example, the first three quarters has seen bilateral trade up by 14.1 percent. And over the past five years, Chinese investment in the region has doubled and the number of Chinese tourists to CEE nations has tripled to about 1 million.

The premier said CEE countries achieved an average of 3 percent economic growth annually, making the sub-region an eye-catching part of Europe. The Chinese economy, which increases by about 7 percent annually on average with consumption as a major driver, will still keep growing at a medium and high speed, he said. That indicates the Chinese market has a growing demand for high-quality and customized products, he added. In the next five years, China is estimated to import goods worth $8 trillion and more than 700 million overseas trips will be made, providing huge opportunities for China-CEEC cooperation, he said.

China would like to import more high-quality goods from CEE countries and will encourage the Chinese people to travel to the region, Li added.