2015年CRI Infrastructure Highlighted in China-CEE Cooperation

Following the morning session of the China-CEE summit, the leaders from the 16 Central and Eastern European nations joined Chinese Premier 1 Li Keqiang on a train ride from Suzhou to Shanghai, hitting speeds of around 300 kilometers per hour on the 100-kilometer-long trip.

The Premier has used the 25-minute train ride as a showcase for future cooperation through the so-called "16+1" framework.

"The development of China's high-speed rail is a symbol of our advanced equipment technology. We have already signed deals this week with both Hungary and Serbia on railway construction. Negotiations 2 on other projects of their kind are also underway. As such, we think there is massive potential for cooperation in the area."

Under the deals signed with Hungary and Serbia, a rail link is going to be built connected the Hungarian capital Budapest with Serbia's capital, Belgrade.

Both countries, in particular Hungary, have been pressing to have the link built.

Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban has been actively 3 courting the Chinese rail project by suggesting his country can be a distribution point for Chinese goods meant to flow through the rest of continental 4 Europe.

Construction of the railway, set to cut travel time between the Serbian and Hungarian capitals by more than half, is due to be complete in 2-years.

At the same time, Premier Li Keqiang has also floated the idea of China helping 5 create a sea-port corridor linking the Adriatic-Baltic-Black Sea region, suggesting China has a lot of experience with port design and manufacturing.

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma says she likes the idea.

"I would like to express our support for the sea port corridor initiative connecting Baltic and Black Sea and Adriatic ports proposed by our Chinese colleagues. I'm grateful and have high confidence for Latvia."

Most of China's investments in central and Eastern Europe have been connected to infrastructure 6 and energy projects, which can be costly 7 for smaller economies in Central and Eastern Europe.

As such, Premier Li Keqiang says the Chinese government wants to create a new financing vehicle which countries in the region can use to develop these projects.

"We would like to establish a '16+1' multilateral financing firm. We will promote the projects, especially larger ones, under the principle of commercialization. To do this, China will apply to become a member of the European Bank of Reconstruction 8 and Development to support the construction projects. But at the same time, we will also support equipment manufacturing in Central and Eastern Europe through commercial banking 9 operations."

Trade among China and 16 countries making up Central and Eastern Europe came in at around 60 billion U.S. dollars last year.

This is around one-tenth the trade volume among China and all the countries in Europe.

The 16 Central and Eastern European leaders attending this week's sessions in Suzhou are now headed to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.