Premier Li Keqiang met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer on March 26 in Beijing as China is ready to shape new cooperative highlights in areas such as environmental protection and new energy.

The president is paying a state visit to China and to attend the 2015 Boao Forum for Asia.

Li hailed the long-standing dedication of the president to the development of the China-Austria relationship, as well as the important contributions made toward bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

The two countries, despite their different national conditions and degrees of development, have no critical conflicts of interest and the traditional friendship between the two peoples is profound, the Premier said.

Li said the Chinese government attaches importance to developing his relationship with Austria, and is willing to act on the basis of mutual respect and equality and mutual benefits, and bring new progress to the bilateral relationship in the new context.

China-Austria cooperation enjoys advantages, and it also enjoys opportunities and potential, the Premier said.

China is ready to work with Austria to shape new cooperative highlights in areas such as environmental protection, new energy, renewable energy, agriculture and science and technology, and promote the level of cooperation in fields such as finance and civil aviation, Li said.

Li also stressed that China attaches importance to developing its relationship with the European Union.

China is glad to see a consolidated and prosperous Europe as well as a powerful and stable euro, which will be helpful to shaping a multipolar world and boosting diversity of international reserve currencies, Li said.

The further development of China-European economic and trade relationships will facilitate the revival and stability of the world economy, Li added.

Fischer said the Austria-China relationship is very important and the potential for bilateral cooperation is remarkable.

Austria is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in areas such as environmental protection, new energy, agricultural technologies and aviation, and further expand cooperation in tourism and sports, he said.

Austria is supportive of the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and welcomes the expanding operations of Chinese banks in the country, the president said.

It is hoped that the Europe-China relationship is consistently strengthened and deepened, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

[Photo by Liu Weibing/Xinhua]