国内英语新闻:Croatia, China eye more cooperation

ZAGREB, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- China and Croatia have vowed more cooperation in various fields as Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic met with Meng Jianzhu, Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy.

In meeting with Kitarovic on Wednesday, Meng, also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, spoke highly of the development of bilateral ties which was established 25 years ago.

China, Meng said, attached great importance to the development of relations with Croatia, and was willing to maintain exchange of high-level officials, align development initiatives and to have more economic and trade cooperation with Croatia by jointly constructing projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Meng said China was also willing to deepen cooperation with Croatia over fighting organized crime and terrorism so as to safeguard development of both countries.

Kitarovic said her country valued the comprehensive cooperative partnership with China, and sought cooperation with China under the "China-CEE 16+1 mechanism", a platform created in April 2012 by China and 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

She also hoped that the two sides could cooperate more in areas including politics, economy, culture and unconventional security threats.

On Tuesday, Meng met with Prime Minister Plenkovic who pointed out great potential in cooperation in infrastructure construction and trade between Croatia and China.

Plenkovic also expressed satisfaction with an agreement signed earlier in the day on joint Croatian-Chinese police patrols to be introduced during the next tourist season.

Plenkovic said Croatia, as a European Union member and a CEE country, was willing to have more cooperation with China under the Belt and Road Initiative and the "China-CEE 16+1 mechanism".