Chinese ambassador says Estonia important regional partner of China

TALLINN - "Estonia is an important partner of China in the Baltic region as well as in Europe as a whole," Chinese Ambassador to Estonia Li Chao said on Wednesday.

Li made the remarks at the reception in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

As traditional friendly countries, China and Estonia "both firmly support multilateralism and free trade and have made tremendous achievements in economic and social development," said the Chinese ambassador.

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid visited China in September last year and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which opened a new phase of rapid development of bilateral relations, he said.

In April, Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas attended the China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) leaders' meeting for the third time in a row, held bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and reached consensus on stronger China-Estonia practical cooperation, Li said, expecting the China-CEEC leaders' meeting to be hosted by China next year to further promote practical cooperation.

"China is Estonia's largest export market in Asia. In the first half of this year, Estonia's exports to China increased by 22 percent year on year," he said.

In order to further develop the great potential of China-Estonia practical cooperation, the Chinese Embassy in Estonia and the Enterprise Estonia co-organized the "Doing Business in China 2.0" Forum earlier this month to familiarize Estonian entrepreneurs with China's investment policies, business environment and customs clearance policies, Li said.

Present at the reception were more than 300 guests, including former Estonian President Arnold Ruutel and Estonian parliament president Henn Polluaas, Estonian government ministers, lawmakers, defense officials, diplomatic envoys and oversea Chinese businessmen and students.