Xi urges fostering sense of community of common destiny with Czech Republic

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman attend the China-Czech Economic Roundtable in Prague, the Czech Republic, March 30, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

PRAGUE, March 30 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Wednesday that China and the Czech Republic should establish a sense of community of common destiny to jointly address the challenges in global economy and realize common development through strengthened cooperation and coordination.

With a broad base of overlapping interests, the two countries should enhance coordination, strengthen the linkage of their advantages, innovate on the cooperation model and give full play to their complementarity, Xi said when addressing the China-Czech Economic Roundtable.

"The peoples of both our two countries love peace and pursue win-win cooperation, which serves as a solid foundation for the rapid development of practical cooperation in economy and trade between our countries," said the president.

With two-way trade continuing to grow and mutual investment expanding and covering more cooperation areas, Xi said bilateral cooperation is accelerating with sound progress, encouraging enterprises of both countries to seize the opportunity and actively promote the healthy and continuous development of China-Czech practical cooperation.

On establishing the sense of community of common destiny, the president said the two countries should strengthen coordination in international, regional and bilateral issues, and rely on economic and trade cooperation to promote China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) cooperation, while sharing fruits together.

China and the Czech Republic should explore innovation in economic, trade and business cooperation model, enhance cooperation in such fields as finance, Internet economy, new energy and tourism, and support enterprises of the two countries to co-construct industrial and science and technology park, so as to nurture new development source for economic and trade growth, said Xi.

The two sides should also carry out international productivity cooperation and realize the effective synergy of the Made in China 2025 plan and the Czech Industry 4.0, he said.

The world economy is still undergoing profound adjustment in a complex and changing situation. Meanwhile, the Chinese economy has entered into a period of new normal, with its sound fundamentals and long-term trajectory remaining unchanged, said the president.

Stressing that China remains and will continue to be a major driving force for global economic growth, Xi said China's stability and development is a great contribution to the world.

The Belt and Road Initiative raised by China accords with peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, which are themes of the time, the president said, adding that the Czech Republic, an important country along the Silk Road Economic Belt, together with China, are faced with enormous development opportunity.

President Milos Zeman, in his address, said Xi's visit to the Czech Republic is of historic significance, and will greatly promote the long-term development of bilateral ties.

Hailing that both sides are conducting sound cooperation in a wider range of fields, Zeman said the Czech Republic welcomes more investments from Chinese enterprises.

The Czech government stands ready to provide vigorous support to the cooperation between business circles of the two countries and the bilateral economic and trade development, he said.

The two presidents also witnessed the signing of a host of cooperation documents between the two countries' enterprises.

Xi is in the Czech Republic for a three-day state visit, as China seeks closer China-Czech ties and stronger relations with the CEE countries.

It is the first state visit by a Chinese president in 67 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties, and also Xi's maiden visit to the CEE region since he assumed presidency in 2013 and his first trip to Europe this year.