Li's CEE trip boosts common development rather than poses threat to EU integrity

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Li's CEE trip boosts common development rather than poses threat to EU integrity

By Tian Dongdong (Xinhua) 13:51, November 26, 2013

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 -- Having charted here a roadmap for China-Europe cooperation with European Union (EU) leaders last week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived on Monday in Bucharest for an official visit to Romania and a meeting with leaders of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

This is a golden chance for the Chinese premier and his counterparts of 16 CEE countries to discuss further cooperation and forge stronger ties for common development.

It will not pose any threat to the EU integrity as some might fear.

A better China-CEE relationship not only serves the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two sides, but is also helpful to the European integration process as cooperation with China can help boost their economy, which in turn prompts some of these countries' entry into the EU.

China and CEE countries have economic similarity and complementarity, which have created favorable conditions for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Like China, most CEE countries are undergoing transition toward market economy and have strong demands for economic restructuring and infrastructure upgrading.

Unlike China, most CEE countries are plagued by sluggish economies and lack of developing experiences, and urgently need expanding investment to promote economic growth -- a fundamental drive for them to join the EU, which hopefully could help them develop via a stability mechanism.

But the ongoing economic crisis deterred EU engines, Germany and France, from fully and actively carrying out the mechanism, as they also face a bumpy and fragile economic recovery. It forced the economically more vulnerable CEE countries to turn to a plan B -- seeking help from the outside of the European continent.

Here then comes a rallying point for cooperation between China and CEE countries: China can meet their demand for development with its advantages in equipment manufacturing and infrastructure construction as well as in capital and technology.

In fact, since the first China-CEE business forum was held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest in 2011, the two sides have already formed a mechanism for cooperation and made remarkable progress in trade and investment.

In a signed article published by the British daily Telegraph last week,Li pledged that China will, as always, firmly support Europe's integration process, stressing that a united, stable and prosperous Europe is in the interests of the world and China.

Besides, a stronger Central and Eastern Europe is conducive to the common prosperity and development of the 28-nation union.

"We believed that comprehensive cooperation between China and CEE countries will not only serve the people of both sides but also lend fresh impetus to the sound, balanced and sustained growth of relations between China and Europe," Li said on Monday in a signed article published by major news outlets of CEE countries.

Future developments will prove what the Chinese premier said.