Chinese vice premier, Ukrainian PM meet on cooperation

KIEV, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman met here on Tuesday to discuss bilateral cooperation between their countries.

Ma spoke highly of the results of the third session of the China-Ukraine Intergovernmental Commission on bilateral cooperation, which was held earlier in the day.

"We have successfully held the third meeting of the China-Ukraine Intergovernmental Commission ... At the next stages, it is important to transform the agreements and the signed documents into tangible results for the benefit of our peoples," he said.

At the session, China and Ukraine signed an action plan on jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and agreed to deepen their cooperation in agriculture, energy efficiency and renewable energy, culture, healthcare and education as well as other sectors.

Ma also welcomed Ukraine's desire to actively participate in the implementation of international projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and create a favorable business environment to bolster entrepreneurship development.

For his part, Groysman said that Ukraine attaches a great importance to its ties and cooperation with China and stands ready to promote the partnership.

"China has been and remains our strategic partner. For me, as for the prime minister, China is a strategic priority. I think that we can with renewed vigor launch a number of important projects of our cooperation," Groysman said.

Kiev welcomes more Chinese enterprises to do businesses with or make investment in Ukraine and it is ready to facilitate such cooperation, he said.

According to the Ukrainian statistics, the trade turnover between China and Ukraine rose 14.5 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2017 to 5.6 billion U.S. dollars.

The Chinese delegation headed by Ma arrived in Kiev on Monday on a three-day visit at the invitation of the Ukrainian government.

The China-Ukraine Intergovernmental Commission was launched in 2011 as a core mechanism to coordinate and plan all-round cooperation between the two countries. Enditem