On Dec.17, China, Serbia, Hungary and Macedonia agreed to build a land-sea express route, which links the Greek port of Piraeus in the south and the Hungarian capital of Budapest in the north, stringing together the Macedonian capital of Skopje and Serbia's Belgrade.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang made the observation that the encouragement of trade and investment serves as a remedy for resisting downward pressure while the global economic recovery remains weak. Li added that China is expected to build more lines between China and Europe and strengthen cooperation with other European countries.

Upon completion, the land-sea express route will help scale up trade between China and Europe and speed up the development of countries along the route and other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The route will benefit more than 32 million people and help boost interconnectivity and smooth transportation of goods in the countries along the route. Moreover, the route will also speed up the flow of personnel, products, capital and technology and other exchanges between enterprises.

The land-sea express line will narrow the gap between European countries and promote the balanced overall development of Europe. This route serves the interests of less-developed CEE countries as they try to seek cooperation with partners outside Europe to shake off the effect of the European debt crisis. The line provides the CEE countries with an opportunity to achieve deeper cooperation with China and inject a tremendous boost to their economy.

The link will make the all-round strategic partnership between China and Europe more meaningful. Increasing economic cooperation has been a source of strength to the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership in the past few years. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese premier Li Keqiang signed a flurry of agreements during their visit to Europe which have opened a new chapter of cooperation between China and Europe. Investment in building the route will spur economic growth and stimulate employment.

The construction of the link will also help to remedy China's problems of overcapacity by opening up a convenient new channel for the import and export of products between China and Europe.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang noted that the land-sea express route will promote connections between Mediterranean countries and European countries along the Danube and strengthen the ties between China and CEE countries by encouraging common development, complementary advantages, and industrial connections. All parties involved should decide the issues regarding cooperation model and capital support through negotiations on an equal footing when it comes to the construction of the route, build the route together, and share the future benefits. Thus, the route will open sooner and promote mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Europe.