The two leaders stressed their interest in broadening and deepening bilateral relations, especially in the transport and logistics sectors, where both sides see great opportunities for Latvia.
Li Kequiang noted with pleasure that Latvia’s pending Presidency of the Council of the EU would be a significant chance not just to intensify Sino-Latvian relations, but also Sino-European ties in general.
Both sides discussed the mid-term strategic goals of the Central and Eastern European countries’ program of relations with China referred to as the 16+1 format. The Latvian head-of-state proposed that another high-level transport and logistics conference be jointly organized in 2015 by the two countries in light of the previous conference’s success this year.
On his part, Berzins thanked the Chinese government leader for certifying Latvian dairy and meat products for distribution in the Chinese market, especially as diversification of export destinations became imperative after Russia’s embargo on EU food product imports.
The president also thanked the Chinese for sending 68 participating choirs with over 4000 singers to the World Choir Games. He also praised the increase in student exchanges and Chinese language studies at the University of Latvia’s Confucius Institute.