Vice Minister Qu Dongyu met with Mr. Tugomir Majdak, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Croatia, and held in-depth discussions on enhancing China-Croatia practical agricultural cooperation in Bjelovar on 31 March 2017.
Mr. Qu pointed out that China and Croatia share a profound and traditional friendship, have witnessed frequent exchanges of high-level agricultural visits, and enjoy a solid foundation for bilateral cooperation. In recent years, China's Belt and Road Initiative has provided new historic opportunities for furthering bilateral agricultural cooperation. He said that broad prospects are to be opened up for agricultural cooperation in the following areas:
First, Croatian enterprises are welcome to large-scale exhibitions in China, such as the China International Agricultural Trade Fair (CATF), to showcase premium Croatian agricultural products to Chinese consumers and accelerate bilateral agricultural trade;
Second, the two countries strengthen policy communication, promote agricultural production capacity cooperation, and encourage Chinese agricultural enterprises to invest in Croatia to improve bilateral trade and economic cooperation;
Third, the two sides make full use of multilateral platforms such as the 16+1 cooperation mechanism to upgrade China-Croatia agricultural cooperation in all aspects.
Mr. Majdak fully agreed with Mr. Qu. He said that Croatia highly values the strategic opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to work with China to create a more favorable policy environment and deepen bilateral cooperation on agricultural trade and investment.
After the meeting, the two sides signed the Joint Action Plan on Agricultural Cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of Croatia 2017-2018. During the stay, Mr. Qu, accompanied by Mr. Majdak, attended the International Spring Bjelovar Fair, visited agro-processors and farmers markets, and exchanged views on strengthening China-Croatia agricultural cooperation with Mr. Hu Zhaoming, Chinese Ambassador to Croatia. Mr. Liu Kai, Economic Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Croatia, attended related activities.
