Exchanges

Xi Jinping Visits South Korea

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited South Korea on July 3 and 4， 2014. In the meeting with his South Korean counterpart， Park Geun-hye， Xi made a four-point proposal to enhance cooperation in political security， economy and trade， people-to-people exchanges as well as regional and international affairs. According to a joint statement issued after the meeting， the two countries vowed to finish the negotiations on a free trade agreement before the end of 2014 and to expand trade volume to US $300 billion in 2015. The countries will celebrate the Year of Chinese Tourism in South Korea in 2015 and the Year of South Korean Tourism in China in 2016. The two countries reiterated their joint position on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula， calling for efforts to create conditions for resumption of the stalled six-party talk. In a speech delivered at Seoul National University， Xi said China and South Korea have become genuine strategic cooperative partners， ushering in the strongest ties between the two countries in history. Xi and Park also attended a forum on Chinese-South Korean economic and trade cooperation.

China， Germany to Promote Ties

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited China from July 6 to 8， 2014. In their talks， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China and Germany share common ground in safeguarding world peace， developing a win-win partnership and advocating global free trade. China will give full play to the consultation mechanism between the two governments and formulate a medium-to-long-term cooperation plan. Li added that China will participate in CeBIT 2015 in Hanover， one of the worlds largest IT fairs， and the two sides will host a China-Germany Year of Innovative Cooperation in 2015. Merkel said Germany hopes to build an innovative partnership with China， and expand bilateral cooperation in trade， finance， sci & tech， agriculture and culture. Germany welcomes Chinese investment， and German companies hope to expand investment in China and develop central and western China. The German Chancellor also added that Germany supports exchanges and dialogues between the European Union and China， and is ready to play a constructive role in advancing EU-China relations.

China Builds New Railway in Nigeria

The modern railway project from Abuja to Kaduna in Nigeria， built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation（CCECC）， has reached 100 kilometers. A ceremony was held in Doka， Kaduna on June 14， 2014. Over 200 representatives attended the event， including Nigerian Minister of Transport Idris Abudullahi Umar and Shi Hongbing， managing director of CCECC Nigeria Ltd. In his speech， Mr. Umar emphasized the railways importance for Nigerias economic development as the first line in the countrys modernized railway network under construction. Umar and Shi tightened the last bolt together， symbolizing the significant moment.

First Sino-Russian Expo Opens

The first Sino-Russian Exposition opened on June 29， 2014 in Harbin， Heilongjiang Province. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin attended the opening ceremony and held the chairmen meeting of the joint commission for the regular meetings of Chinese and Russian prime ministers. Wang pointed out that historical breakthroughs have been achieved in areas like energy and aviation since Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Shanghai in May. The meeting between the two presidents made clear the direction and focus of the next stage of partnership， said Wang， who called on both sides to promote cooperation on aviation， nuclear energy， machinery， finance and cross-border infrastructure. Rogozin said the expo reflects the high level of partnership between the two countries and demonstrates their common aspiration to work together for mutual benefit in different areas. Russia is willing to work with China in order to escalate economic cooperation to a new level.