Czech Republic deepens cooperation with China

President of Czech Republic Milos Zeman addresses a speech at the opening ceremony. 

[Photo: gmw.cn]

Attendees of the China Investment Forum in Prague spoke highly of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Themed "16+1 cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative", the forum attracted more than 300 Chinese entrepreneurs and officials as well as nearly 500 entrepreneurs and officials from the Czech Republic and the other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

President of Czech Republic Milos Zeman, who attended the forum, praised the cooperation contracts worth hundreds of billions of koruna which were inked in the forum held by the Czech-China Friendly Cooperation Association, China Economic Cooperation Center and the National Development and Reform Commission's International Cooperation Center.

According to President Milos Zeman, the first China-Europe Freight Train departing from Prague to China will come into operation on the day after the forum, and he said he is happy to say the country is taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative, which is and will be a significant project in the world's modern history of railway transport.

The Czech Republic is making efforts to make it a Chinese financial center and air transport hub in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, it has great potential for cooperation with China in education, public health, science and technology.

Prague is connected with Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu by direct air routes, and will soon open two new air routes to Kunming and Shenzhen. It is estimated that Czech tourists will make half a million trips to China, as the number is only 40,000 per year.