On July 6, China’s Premier Li Keqiang met with Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Sofia. The two discussed possible cooperation of the two countries in infrastructure projects, including ports.
As Li Keqiang noted, China is keen on promoting its relation with Croatia in order to ensure further development. The two countries will attempt to create an example project, and under this China wants to help Croatia to support its enterprises by taking part in the construction of ports, railways, and other transportation infrastructures in Croatia.
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The two countries will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, in order to open new paths between China and Central and Eastern European countries. China is also willing to continue to enhance tourism cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges with Croatia.
The meeting between the two men took place under the 16+1 platform, with the Croatian PM saying that
Now we need a step forward in the field of railway infrastructure and sea ports.
The 16+1 initiative is part of China’s One Belt, One Road mega project, a sort of modern-day Silk Road considered to be one of the most ambitious projects in the world.
There are two parts in this project, the belt and the road. The belt is the physical road, the land transportation into Europe; ultimately reaching as far as Moscow, Rotterdam, and Venice. What is called the road, is the maritime Silk Road, in other words, shipping lanes connecting Asia with Europe and Africa. Specifically, as of 2017, the initiative covered more than 68 countries, equivalent to 65% of the world’s population and 40% of the global Gross domestic product (GDP).
