Premier Li Keqiang had a busy schedule during his two-day stay in Riga, capital of Latvia. The Premier paid an official visit to Latvia, attended the Fifth Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries, the Sixth China-CEEC Economic and Trade Forum, and held bilateral talks with leaders from 17 nations.

According to sources, leaders from 16 CEE nations and Belarus, the observer, expressed a strong willingness to hold bilateral talks with Premier Li through diplomatic channels before the China-CEE summit.

China and CEE nations can offer huge market potential and development opportunities to one another. Infrastructure construction and re-industrialization in CEE nations means a huge potential market for Chinese equipment and other competitive products, which will in turn drive employment and improve people’s lives in those countries.

During the bilateral talks, Premier Li said China can offer competitive products in infrastructure, equipment, and industrial manufacturing after decades of industrialization.

Chinese equipment is well positioned to serve CEE countries in infrastructure construction and re-industrialization, and promote regional interconnections, said the Premier.

Under the “16+1 cooperation” framework, China and CEE nations have worked on a number of projects, including the Hungary-Serbia railway and China Railway Express. This year’s summit also released a statement concerning infrastructure and equipment manufacturing for harbors in the Adriatic Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea.

Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis said CEE nations have benefited from cooperation with China, and they are willing to enhance such collaboration through linked strategies, driving forward China-CEE and China-EU relations.

China and CEE nations should work for win-win results through complementary advantages, and contribute to the benefit of CEE people and peaceful development of the world, said Premier Li.