国内英语新闻:ICBC, Czech sign deal on Europe fund for investment cooperation

BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- China's largest lender by market value has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Czech government to cooperate on a new fund to invest in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said Thursday it will spend 1 billion euros (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) on establishing a financial firm to launch the fund.

Czech will contribute 200 million euros to the fund, which will invest in CEE countries and other regions under the "Belt and Road" initiative framework, according to the ICBC.

The Czech government will support the fund's operation in its country and help identify investment opportunities, the ICBC said.

The Belt and Road initiative, proposed by China, is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

ICBC will also set up a branch in the Czech capital of Prague to facilitate Sino-Czech cooperation under the initiative, the bank said.

China is Czech's biggest trade partner outside the European Union. The two countries saw bilateral trade reach 20.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, up 7.8 percent year on year.