Hot Interpretation | Attended the China-CEEC Summit for the first time, Xi Jinping specifically mentioned these projects
Hot Interpretation On February 9, the China-CEEC Leaders Summit was held in video format. President Xi Jinping presided over the summit and delivered a keynote speech titled “Concentrate our hearts and join forces to build a new chapter in cooperation”.
This is the highest-level summit held since the establishment of the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism in 2012, and it is also my country’s first home diplomacy in 2021. As the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism has gone through nine years, President Xi Jinping attended the summit for the first time, opening a new stage in the development of China’s relations with CEECs.
In his keynote speech, President Xi Jinping specifically mentioned the Piraeus Port in Greece, the Smederevo Steel Plant in Serbia, the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia and other China-CEEC cooperation projects, and praised these projects. The goal of helping each other’s development and improving people’s livelihood and well-being was achieved”.
Facing the new situation intertwined with the epidemic of the century and the changes in the past century, how can China-CEEC cooperation better benefit the people of all countries? People from all countries who have benefited from these major cooperation projects have felt the most real answers.
On February 15, 2019, at the port of Piraeus, Greece, the vessel “COSCO SHIPPING Pisces” entered the port.
The port of Piraeus is the largest port in Greece. As the “South Gate of Europe”, Piraeus has unique value on the Mediterranean route. However, Piraeus was already in decline before 2008. The original equipment lacked maintenance and employees could not go to work normally. The debt crisis that broke out in 2009 caused the unemployment rate in Greece to rise to 27.9%…
The turning point came from the Chinese team. From 2008 to 2016, Chinese companies successively obtained part of the operating rights of Piraeus Port, acquired a majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority, and began to renovate and operate in Piraeus Port. Since then, Piraeus Port has regained a new life, driving more than 10,000 local jobs, contributing more than 1 billion euros to Greece’s direct economy, and becoming the largest port in the Mediterranean.
The rapid development of Piraeus Port is inseparable from the care and promotion of President Xi Jinping over the years. When meeting with the leaders of Greece, President Xi Jinping always mentioned the deep expectations of the cooperation project between Port and Hong Kong, and looked forward to it becoming a demonstration project for the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”.
In November 2019, President Xi Jinping made a special trip to visit the Piraeus Port project of COSCO SHIPPING during his visit to Greece, which was rarely seen in the itinerary of previous visits.
President Xi Jinping inspected the operation of Piraeus Port on the spot, and listened to the local people’s talk about the cooperation projects of Piraeus Port to provide them with employment and guarantee income, making their lives better and better. The technical innovation and work efficiency of the Chinese team also made the locals full of praise.
In June 2016, President Xi Jinping visited the Smederevo Steel Plant of HBIS in Serbia, which was also a demonstration project of the “Belt and Road” initiative.
The Smederevo Steel Plant, which has a history of more than 100 years, was on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2016, the Chinese company acquired Smederevo Steel Plant and retained approximately 5,000 employees. More than half a year after the Chinese team took over, the Smederevo Steel Plant has achieved profitability and quickly reversed its 7 consecutive years of losses.
Approximately 5,000 employees are the direct beneficiaries of the revitalization of the Smederevo Steel Plant. As the largest foreign exchange earner in Serbia, the livelihood of about 20,000 people in Smederevo City is also solved by the Smederevo Steel Plant.
When President Xi Jinping visited the Smederevo Steel Plant of HBIS in Serbia, the most exchanges with locals were people’s livelihood. Allowing people of all countries to obtain tangible and tangible results of cooperation is the best interpretation of China-CEEC focusing on pragmatic cooperation.
On February 1, 2020, the construction site of the Pelješac Bridge in southern Croatia.
In addition, the Peljesac Sea Crossing Bridge built by the Chinese team is a “dream bridge” that carries the dream of local people for many years. The sea-crossing bridge will break the geographical restriction on the southern tip of Croatia and the famous tourist resort Pelješac peninsula across the sea, greatly reducing the original 2-3 hour drive to a few minutes.
The Hungary-Serbia railway connecting Budapest, the capital of Hungary, to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, is also being completely renovated by the Chinese team. This old track with a speed of only 30-40 kilometers per hour will be greatly increased to a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, shortening the train travel time from 8 hours to less than 3 hours.
The Port of Piraeus in Greece, the Smederevo Steel Plant in Serbia, the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia, the Hungary-Serbia Railway… One after another major cooperation projects have been implemented. The biggest beneficiaries are China and Central and Eastern European countries. people.
President Xi Jinping said in his keynote speech: “We focused on pragmatic cooperation and achieved the goal of helping each other’s development and enhancing people’s livelihood.” Letting people from all countries reap tangible benefits is China-CEEC cooperation and mutual development. The original intention.
In the past nine years, the cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries has achieved gratifying results of “17+1 greater than 18”. The bilateral trade volume has increased by nearly 85%, the number of two-way tourism exchanges has increased by nearly four times, and the China-Europe Express has covered most of Central and Eastern Europe. country. Under the impact of the epidemic, the trade volume between China and Central and Eastern European countries will grow against the trend in 2020, exceeding US$100 billion for the first time!
Facing the future, as long as China and Central and Eastern European countries are determined to jointly create a better future and steadily promote various livelihood cooperation projects, people of all countries will be able to gain more and more “tangible benefits”. China-CEEC relations will continue A new page is opened in practical cooperation.
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