Colleagues,

Our world is undergoing profound and complex changes, yet peace and development remain the theme of our time. While a new round of technological and industrial revolution brings new opportunities for development, we are also faced with the challenges of slowing growth, rising protectionism and unilateralism, and an array of regional hotspot issues, giving rise to even greater instability and uncertainty. Major international institutions have recently revised downward their global growth forecasts.

Under these new circumstances, our common interests have been growing and so has our mutual need. By working together to broaden and upgrade China-CEEC cooperation, we will not just bring greater benefits to the people of China and CEE countries, but also boost the steady growth of the world economy.

With this larger context in mind, the theme of our summit this year: Building New Bridges Through Openness, Innovation and Partnership is particularly focused and relevant.

- We need to build the bridges through greater openness. China-CEEC cooperation is a catalyst for open cooperation. It is not just about two-way opening of markets between China and the CEE countries, but also about being open to the EU and to countries outside the region. China is a beneficiary of reform and opening-up. The just-adopted Foreign Investment Law has sent a clear signal of China's commitment to opening-up at a higher level. This will help create a well-regulated and law-based business environment for CEE enterprises in making investments in China. Likewise, we hope CEE countries could provide more convenience for the import of medium and high-end Chinese products such as in the electronics, communications and clean energy sectors.

- We need to build the bridges through unimpeded innovation. China-CEEC cooperation, which started small but developed into a maturing mechanism in just seven years, is an act of innovation in itself. It has built a new platform for cross-regional, multi-party cooperation, and created a new channel for China-Europe cooperation. It has explored new areas of practical cooperation, and established over 20 mechanisms in areas from economy and trade to cultural and people-to-people links, and from government cooperation to subnational exchanges, with new contents and forms of cooperation added every year. In particular, science, technology and innovation have become new highlights of cooperation, and third-party cooperation with the EU has generated benefits to all parties and demonstrated a broad prospect.

- We need to build the bridges through stronger partnership. China-CEEC cooperation is a robust practice of multilateralism. By building closer partnership between China and the CEE countries, it has served as a model of harmonious co-existence, inclusive development and win-win cooperation among countries with different social systems, cultural traditions and levels of development. The China-CEEC Global Partnership Center to be inaugurated later today aims to provide policy and legal advice and intellectual support for enterprises from both sides in expanding trade and investment cooperation. We welcome the active participation of academic institutions from CEE countries and the EU in the center's activities.

I look forward to hearing your insights and building greater common understanding with you on further deepening our practical cooperation. (More)

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