China, Cyprus to Enhance Economic CooperationChinese and Cypriote ministers agreed Tuesday that the two sides should make efforts to upgrade their bilateral trade and economic relations.Shi Guangsheng, China's Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), and Takis Clerides, minister of finance of Cyprus, met here for the 4th session of the "Joint Sino-Cypriote Inter-governmental Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation." Shi said China's electric appliances and machinery suit the market of Cyprus and Cypriote products can also play a part on the Chinese market. The two sides can explore more cooperation opportunity after China becomes a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Cyprus becomes a member of the European Union. The Chinese minister proposed the two sides make joint efforts to achieve a balanced trade. The two countries have great cooperation potential in areas of trade, investment, project engineering, tourism, transportation, civil aviation, telecommunications and some other service sectors. China-Cyprus trade volume hit a record high of 152 million U.S. dollars last year, up 48.66 percent from 1999. Clerides congratulated China on its full consensus with the United States and EU over the remaining issues of China's entry into the WTO. He said Cyprus supports China's early entry into the WTO and believes the upcoming session on China's entry in Geneva will be a success. Shi and Clerides signed a summary of the session following the meeting. |
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