China, Czech Republic pledge to extend cooperation

China and the Czech Republic have great potential for extending their cooperation into manufacturing sectors, including energy conservation, environmental protection and sewage disposal, Sun Yongfu, general director for the European Affairs of China's Ministry of Commerce, said during a Thursday seminar on the 65th anniversary of China-Czech diplomacy.

Cooperation in services, especially tourism and finance, highlighted the two-way investments between the two countries, Sun added.

Jiri Havlicek, first deputy minister of Industry and Trade for the Czech Republic, said that two-way investments, both direct and non-direct, are expanding into service sectors. He also pledged to expand the republic's exports to China and enhance investment from China.

Michal Skocil, chief executive officer of Home Credit China, a consumer finance provider from the Czech Republic with seven year's presence in the Chinese market, said that consumer finance is gaining increasing importance as China restructures its economic growth momentum toward consumption.

The Czech Republic is China's second-largest trade partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Bilateral trade in 2013 rose 8.3 percent year-on-year to $9.5 billion, according to the ministry. In January, bilateral trade gained 12.5 percent year-on-year and China’s imports surged 32.2 percent.

China's trade with the region has expanded from $4 billion in 2001 to $41.1 billion in 2010 with annual increases of about 32 percent.

lijiabao@chinadaily.com.cn