Sino-Austrian collaboration to grow

Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner said China and Austria are to promote cooperation in renewable energy and environmental protection.

The sides reached multi-billion euro deals at an economic forum in Beijing which celebrated the 50-year partnership between the economic chambers of the countries.

China is Austria's second-largest trading partner outside the European Union, after the United States, with bilateral trade reaching $10 billion last year.

"Bilateral trade has quadrupled in the past decade. We expect total volume to double by 2020," said Christoph Leitl, president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, adding that both countries can increase cooperation in fields including automobile, clean energy, agriculture, tourism and other service sectors.

"Austria is geographically an ideal investment destination for Chinese companies to tap into the central and eastern European market," said Yu Ping, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The European nation and China are entering a new chapter of cooperation after Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the continent, said Hans-Dietmar Schweisgut, EU Ambassador to China.

He added that bilateral trade between China and the EU has huge growth potential as more companies get on the "Chinese train" and reposition during ongoing reforms of both sides.

Austrian companies have invested in more than 1,000 projects in China since the country's opening up in 1978, with total investment exceeding $1 billion. More than 600 Austrian companies have set up branches in China, according to a report by the Austrian Chinese Business Association.

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