Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Saturday that there is potential to be tapped in trade between China and Croatia.

Hu, who was on a state visit to the southeastern European country, made the remarks when attending a trade seminar with his Croatian counterpart Stjepan Mesic.

"Even though China and Croatia are separated by mountains and rivers, the friendship between our two countries can be traced far back," Hu said in an address to the seminar.

China and Croatia forged diplomatic relations 17 years ago. Bilateral ties witnessed a rapid growth during the period. Dual-track trade volume was close to US$1.8 billion in 2008, a record-high figure or 42 folds more than that of 1993. Croatia has become China's largest trading partner in southeastern Europe.

Even so, "the trade volume was relatively small and thus there is potential to be tapped," he said.

According to Hu, China's import volume has exceeded US$1.13 trillion in 2008.

"We welcome Croatian enterprises to promote your products through participating in trade fairs, increase export to China and promote balanced development for bilateral trade," Hu said.

To this end, Hu urged both sides to increase mutual trust in political areas for common development.

"We should enhance dialogue and expand consensus in line with the principle of mutual trust, mutual support and mutual benefit," he said.

Hu also called on entrepreneurs to enhance cooperation and develop new products meeting the other's market demands.

Efforts could also be made to expand more cooperative areas, such as home appliance, telecommunication, logistics, tourism, infrastructure, project contracting and joint research and development, he said.

"Financial and insurance organs should provide support for enterprises of the two countries," Hu said.

China and Croatia have already set up a mixed committee on economy and trade. He said the committee should play its role as a guide and a coordinator.