Croatia

Note: This column mainly includes countries along the Belt and Road and countries that have signed cooperation agreements with China on Belt and Road Initiative.

In 2013, the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Croatia made steady progress.

The two sides maintained high-level exchanges. In November, Premier Li Keqiang met with Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic on the sidelines of the Meeting of Heads of Government of China and Central and Eastern European Countries in Bucharest, Romania. Croatian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Vesna Pusic visited China. Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Chairwoman Fu Ying of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee and Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao had meetings with her in Beijing. Mayor Yang Xiong met with her in Shanghai.

Cooperation in education, political party, justice, agriculture, think tank, media, tourism and other fields advanced steadily and sub-national exchanges were vibrant. Vice Minister of Education Liu Limin visited Croatia and signed with Zeljko Jovanovic, Minister of Science, Education and Sports, the Program of Cooperation in the Field of Education Between the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia for the Period 2013-2016. Mayor Yang Xiong of Shanghai, Vice Minister of the CPC International Department and Director-General of China Center for Contemporary World Studies Yu Hongjun, Vice Minister of Agriculture Zhang Taolin and Minister Li Wei of the Development Research Center of the State Council paid visits to Croatia. Former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic came to China for the Contemporary World Multilateral Dialogue 2013 hosted by the China Center for Contemporary World Studies. The Croatian Democratic Union sent a delegation to the fourth China-Europe High-level Political Parties Forum in Suzhou. Gordan Jandrokovic, Deputy Chairman of Croatian Democratic Union, led a delegation to China. China Central Television and the Croatian Radiotelevision signed a cooperation document. Croatia and Slovenia jointly held a tourism promotion event "Experience Croatia, Feel Slovenia" in China. The Chinese city of Sanya and the Croatian city of Dubrovnik became sister cities. At the end of December, the two countries had seven pairs of sister cities.

Croatia took an active part in cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries. In July, a Croatian delegation attended the Local Leaders' Meeting of China and Central and Eastern European Countries in Chongqing. In October, Sinisa Hajdas Doncic, Croatian National Coordinator for cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries and Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, attended the National Coordinators' Meeting for Cooperation Between China and Central and Eastern European Countries in Bucharest. In December, former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic attended the High-level Symposium of Think Tanks of China and Eastern European Countries in China.