Chinese PM says Romania will be “a tiger of Europe”, speaks about USD 10 bln special credit line during summit in Bucharest

Romania will become a “tiger of Europe” and if “all the tigers will come together and collaborate, a huge market will develop,” said the Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang, at the opening of the China – Central and Eastern Europe Cooperation Summit in Bucharest. Keqiang also showed that he is convinced of the potential economic relations between China and the 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, after prime ministers of these countries have shown excellent economic prospects of the region, according to local news agency Mediafax. Keqiang added that China is prepared to discuss with relevant parties about ways to use a number of funding channels, considering that a special credit line of USD 10 billion can be successfully exploited, under EU regulations. “China is ready to strengthen the cooperation with countries in your region in the roads, ports, telecommunications, nuclear energy areas, in the high-speed railways, and also in launching large-scale projects, all of these leading to important investments and a further increase in commercial trade,” said the Chinese prime minister. He added that the Chinese government is ready to explore the possibilities of signing a framework agreement on industrial investments with countries in the region in order to support competent companies. “Also, we are ready to explore the idea of establishing a platform for exchanges among SMEs,” said Keqiang. He stated that creating new jobs is a top priority that serves people’s interests and China wants to improve cooperation in this sense, thus creating more jobs. The Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang was present at the China – Central and Eastern Europe Cooperation Summit organized in Bucharest on November 26. According to the event’s website, around 1,000 business representatives of the private, public and state sectors were to attend the summit, representing China and Central-European countries, namely Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Republic of Macedonia. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: gov.ro)