Full Text of The Riga Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (1)

The Riga Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries was issued here Saturday at the 5th Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries(CEECs).

The following is the full text of the document.

The Riga Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries

On 5 November 2016, the 5th Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (hereinafter referred to as "CEECs") was held in Riga, Latvia. Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis of Latvia, Premier Li Keqiang of the People's Republic of China, Prime Minister Edi Rama of the Republic of Albania, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov of the Republic of Bulgaria, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic of Croatia, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Taavi Roivas of the Republic of Estonia, Prime Minister Orban Viktor of Hungary, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius of the Republic of Lithuania, Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev of the Republic of Macedonia, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo of the Republic of Poland, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos of Romania, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic of the Republic of Serbia, Prime Minister Robert Fico of the Slovak Republic, Prime Minister Miro Cerar of the Republic of Slovenia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information, Society and Telecommunications Vujica Lazovit of Montenegro attended the meeting. They expressed appreciation and gratitude to Latvia for the efforts it had made as the host country to ensure the success of the meeting. Representatives of other parties, including Austria, Belarus, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EU, Greece and Switzerland were present as observers.

The Participants at the meeting (hereinafter referred to as "the Participants") reviewed the good progress and results of the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (hereinafter referred to as "16+1 Cooperation") since the establishment of the format in 2012, commended the implementation of the Medium-Term Agenda and the Suzhou Guidelines for Cooperation between China and CEECs (see Annex).

The Participants recognized that the 16+1 Cooperation has proven its viability by enhancing the scope and magnitude of cooperation among the 17 countries and has become more mature and ready for harvest. The Participants reaffirmed the intention to forge an efficient, practical and lasting 16+1 Cooperation, to build a partnership featuring openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit, as well as to develop synergies between 16+1 Cooperation and the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, including through the EU-China Connectivity Platform.

In that perspective, the Participants jointly formulated and issued, on the theme of "Connectivity, Innovation, Inclusiveness and Common Development" , the Riga Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries with a view to enhancing existing cooperation and fostering cooperation in new areas, and affirmed that its implementation will conform with their respective laws and regulations, and in the case of EU member states, relevant EU legislation and regulations.

1.The Participants support Hungary in hosting the 6th China-CEEC Summit in 2017.

2.The Participants appreciate the guiding and facilitating role that the Medium-Term Agenda has played in enhancing 16+1 Cooperation and express readiness to continuously implement the Agenda in light of their respective realities, needs, and priorities.

3.16+1 National Coordinators' Meetings will be held in China and Hungary respectively in 2017.

4.Trade and investment

(1)The Participants encourage and support progress in the ongoing EU-China negotiations over an ambitious and comprehensive investment agreement, which will contribute markedly to the development of the China-CEEC investment cooperation and will create a mutually favorable investment environment and market access for all companies.

(2)The China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo will be held in Ningbo, China in June 2017 during the China International Consumer Goods Fair.

(3)The China Investment Forum will be held in the Czech Republic in 2017.

(4)The Participants acknowledge the important role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in promoting trade and investment cooperation and intend to facilitate cooperation and networking among CEEC and Chinese SMEs. They welcome the participation of Chinese and CEEC SMEs in the China International Small and Medium Enterprises Fair 2017, and are willing to explore the possibility of establishing 16+1 SME Association.

(5)The Participants welcome further cooperation on enhancing trade through e-commerce platforms and encourage Chinese and CEECs' businesses to promote exports and imports of their quality and featured products through e-commerce.

5.Connectivity

(1)The Participants acknowledge the importance and comprehensive character of connectivity between Europe and Asia and reaffirm support to the progress made under the EU-China Connectivity Platform.They recognize the need and indicate their willingness to make concerted efforts to develop synergies between the "Belt and Road Initiative" and the relevant EU initiatives such as the Trans-European Networks (TEN-T) .

(2)The Participants noted the progress made in and underlined the importance of cooperation in the field of transport and logistics under the framework of China-CEEC cooperation. The Participants welcome fostering of information exchange on transport and logistics services as well as strengthening of relevant bilateral and multilateral cooperation in order to develop integrated transport corridors between Asia and Europe.

(3)The Participants support development of transport routes between Europe and Asia, including intensifying development of the Europe-China international railway container traffic so that goods could be transported in both directions. The Participants support the establishment of multimodal logistic centers in CEECs and throughout the whole Eurasian Land Bridge areas and improvement of the international supply chain and border crossing rules on the transport corridors in line with national and EU competences.

(4)The Participants appreciate the progress made by Serbia in leading the efforts to establish a China-CEEC association on transport and infrastructure cooperation and welcome the participation of relevant Chinese and CEEC institutions, businesses and organizations on a voluntary basis. (mor