Chinese, CEEC capital cities agree to have mutually beneficial cooperation
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E-mail Xinhua, September 27, 2016
The capital cities of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) agreed on Tuesday to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.
At their first meeting under the frameworks of the 16+1 mechanism, which refers to a cooperative platform between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries, mayors and their representatives acknowledged the substantial progress in the past years regarding the cooperation between China and CEEC and the need to further strengthen exchanges between their capital cities, according to a a joint declaration adopted at the meeting.
Meanwhile, they recognized and agreed "to lay the foundations of 16+1 capitals' cooperation for mutual benefits in economic, tourism, trade and investment, social, environmental protection, innovation and other areas."
According to the declaration, the capitals would open permanent dialogue and carry out regular exchanges of common interest in areas such as tourism, infrastructure, logistics, agriculture and food.
The capitals would also support civil aviation cooperation between China and CEEC in order to develop 16+1 capital cities tourism cooperation through joint tourist programmes, according to the declaration.
Special attention would be paid on enhancing exchanges and applying efforts on the green capital cities' development and environment protection, the document said.
The capital cities of China and CEEC also agreed to continue and deepen their dialogue on culture, covering issues of common interest such as the promotion of cultural diversity, cultural and creative industries, contemporary arts, cultural heritage and other relevant topics in order to contribute to closer people-to-people contacts.
Annual meetings would be held in one of the capitals of China and CEEC to continue and deepen the cooperation started in Sofia, the declaration said.
Du Deyin, chairman of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress, said earlier on Tuesday in his welcome speech that China and CEEC have always been connected by deep friendship, and the practical cooperation between the capital cities has been growing.
The meeting of the capitals' representatives in Sofia aimed to provide an important new platform for cooperation within the 16+1 mechanism, Du said.
Sofia Mayor Jordanka Fandakova said in turn that capitals had the responsibility to drive the development of the whole region and their countries.
Such meetings of mayors from capital cities gave the opportunity not only to discuss ideas, but also to negotiate joint projects, she said.
Holding the 16+1 event was initiated last year by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov during the annual leaders' meeting between China and the CEEC in Suzhou.
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