PM Dancila meets Chinese PM Li Keqiang; Romania's PM voices interest in involving Chinese companies in PPP projects

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila carried out a meeting on Friday with China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang, occasion on which she showed the interest in involving some Chinese companies in public-private partnership (PPP) projects and in opening a traditional Chinese medicine center in Romania. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Summit of Heads of Government of the Central and Eastern European Countries- China cooperation format ('16+1'), which was held in Dubrovnik, Croatia. According to a Government release sent to AGERPRES, on this occasion, topics of interest included on the bilateral agenda were tackled, in the context of celebrating, in 2019, 70 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Romania and the People's Republic of China and 15 years since the establishment of the Ample Friendship and Cooperation Partnership. "The heads of the two Governments voiced their commitment to continue in a pragmatic, open and efficient manner the cooperation projects and the inter-human contacts in the established area. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has provided information on the recent amendments brought to the public-private partnership legislation and voiced the interest in involving Chinese companies in PPP projects. At the same time, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila expressed interest in opening a center of traditional Chinese medicine in Romania. Recent developments in the EU-China relations have also been discussed. Prime Minister Viorica Dancila underscored that Romania will continue to actively contribute to the consolidation of the EU-China Strategic Partnership and the implementation of the EU Strategy on Connecting Europe and Asia, adopted in October 2018," the release showed. The quoted source also mentions that PM Li Keqiang commended the manner in which Romania exercises its first mandate at the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, congratulating the results achieved so far. "The discussions of the two officials were aimed at exports of Romanian agricultural products to the People's Republic of China, the cooperation in the energy area, the Belt and Road Initiative. The meeting also occasioned an exchange of views on the outlooks of the 16+1 cooperation format, occasion on which the Romanian PM proposed for the Republic of Moldova to become a member of this initiative. Viorica Dancila extended an invitation to her Chinese counterpart to pay an official visit to Romania. Furthermore, the Romanian high official welcomed the invitation to pay a visit to the People's Republic of China," the release mentions. AGERPRES (RO - author: Dana Piciu, editor: Florin Marin; EN - editor: Rodica State)