Business conference held in Kiev opens up new prospects for Ukraine-China cooperation

More than 100 representatives of the Ukrainian government and business community and 30 executives of Chinese companies and industrial associations on Monday held a business conference here to open up new opportunities for boosting cooperation between the two countries.

"The main goal of the conference is to create the conditions for building a constructive dialogue between Ukrainian and Chinese business representatives," said a statement on the website of the Kiev International Economic Forum -- the organizer of the event.

While addressing the conference, Ukrainian First Deputy Economy Minister Yuliya Kovaliv said that Ukraine and China have strengthened their economic relations in recent years and now they are implementing joint projects worth 7 billion U.S. dollars in energy, agriculture and infrastructure sectors.

"The Ukrainian government is interested in further developing this mutually beneficial cooperation, including in terms of attracting investment from Chinese private businesses," Kovaliv said.

Meanwhile, Liu Jun, an Advisor to the Office of Trade and Economic Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, said that the two parties have to explore new opportunities in various sectors to tap their cooperation potential.

"There are many areas for expanding our cooperation, such as energy, including the construction of hydropower plants and cooperation in nuclear technologies, railways, port infrastructure, road construction, electric cars, garbage disposal, urban transport and others," Liu told the conference.

According to the Ukrainian Economy Ministry, last year, China became the third-largest trading partner of Ukraine, with bilateral trade turnover exceeding 6 billion U.S. dollars. Endit