"Next year will see the 25th anniversary of our diplomatic relations; our cooperation grows not only in education and transport, but in other fields as well: officials responsible for culture and agriculture will soon start their duties at Lithuania's Embassy in Beijing", said Prime Minister Butkevičius.
The Head of Government has noted that China is an important partner of Lithuania in the Region of Asia: export to China grew by 16 per cent last year. "We appreciate positive signals from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Following completion of certification procedures, Lithuania will be able to offer China's market high quality organic agricultural and food produce", stressed the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and Ambassador of China Wei Ruixing have agreed that it is necessary to further develop cooperation in transport services. The Head of Government has invited Chinese entrepreneurs to make use of the services of shuttle container train "the Sun", which covers the distance between Klaipėda and China in 10 days.
Ambassador has noted that President of China Merchants Group, one of the largest State companies of China, will visit Lithuania shortly. The company is largely interested in investment into the Port of Klaipėda. "The visit will be important for the development of our cooperation", said Ambassador Ruixing.
The meeting has also covered the Baltic Region as having special place in the 21st century Silk Route Strategy of China; it is expected that there are going to be direct investments in Lithuania. The Prime Minister has invited representatives of China to take part in the Lithuania-China business forum "Silk Route in Klaipėda".
During the meeting it was agreed to strengthen cooperation in China+16 format; the Ambassador said the Prime Minister was going to be welcomed along with the delegation at the next meeting. Both countries believe that this format contributes to the strategic dialogue, opens up more opportunities to develop cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, banking, and education. The latter field has recently gathered momentum in bilateral relations.
On 27 April in Riga, Minster of Education and Science of Lithuania Dainius Pavalkis and Vice Minister of Education of China Li Weihong signed an agreement on mutual recognition of higher education qualifications. The agreement is of great importance for the cooperation among the science and education institutions of the two states; it will encourage academic exchange and will allow strengthening cooperation in the fields of education and science.
