Wen wraps up European trip

Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday wrapped up a weeklong European trip, in which China secured trade deals in the strategically important Arctic, consolidated ties with the continent's largest economy and boosted relations in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Auschwitz death camp in southern Poland's Krakow was the last destination of his four-nation tour, which sought to expand trade with the region.

China aims to double its trade with Central and Eastern European states to $100 billion by 2015, Wen said, adding that Beijing is setting up a $10 billion credit line to support joint projects - particularly in infrastructure and new energy - with countries in the region.

China and countries from Central and Eastern Europe have enjoyed sound ties in tradition, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin at a regular news conference on Friday.

It is the common hope of both sides to deepen mutual trust and to benefit from the cooperation, particularly with the financial and debt crisis lingering over Europe, Liu said.

China and those countries are standing in an important period of development. The economies of the two sides are highly complementary with each other, and economic cooperation is the most dynamic part of bilateral ties, Liu added.

Every country in Europe is unique and essential for cooperation with China. One cannot replace the other, said Feng Zhongpin, director of the Institute of European Studies under the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Wen's trip has made Sino-European ties more balanced and showed that the debt crisis in Europe hasn't broken China's trust in Europe, Feng said.

As the world's largest exporter, China will showcase its greatest sincerity by importing more from the 16 states in Central and Eastern Europe, Wen told an unprecedented meeting of the region's heads of government in Warsaw on Thursday.

Plans for a $500 million startup fund backing Chinese business ventures in the region, which Wen announced the same day, would help this process, he said.

In his earlier meeting with Wen on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the deepening of bilateral relations was beneficial for both sides and that it was bound to have a positive effect on China's relations with Europe.

Wen's visit to Sweden, meanwhile, reaffirmed Sino-Swedish cooperation and saw him tour the headquarters of the automaker Volvo Car Corp - which is now owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Group Holdings - in Stockholm.

During Wen's visit to Sweden, Volvo signed a long-term financing contract with the Development Bank of China for efficient energy cars and its production facilities in China.

Sweden, which chairs the eight-member Arctic Council, has supported China's bid to become a permanent member since 2005. Iceland, another member of the council and the first stop of Wen's visit, has also stated explicit support.

China vowed to broaden its scopes of cooperation with and seal free trade negotiations with Reykjavik, a $13 billion island economy that relies heavily on geothermal utilization.

Both sides hope the talks can be completed next year.

Contact the writers at huyinan@chinadaily.com.cn and zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn