ZAGREB, November 4, 2019 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, who started his visit to China on Sunday, met with the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Li Zhanshu, in Beijing on Monday, the Croatian parliament said in a statement.

Jandroković and Li confirmed that the two countries relations were traditionally friendly and based on partnership.

It was said that the visit of the Croatian parliament speaker built on the political dialogue of the highest level, confirmed by Chinese Premier Li Kequiang's visit to Croatia earlier this year.

The two officials expressed satisfaction with their countries' very good and developed cooperation in a number of areas, from trade and science to culture and sports.

They also expressed satisfaction with the regular exchange of official visits by parliamentary delegations, with Jandroković inviting Li to pay an official visit to Croatia.

The Croatian official underlined the importance of Croatia's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the 17+1 project, noting that a successful summit meeting was held as part of the initiative and the project in Dubrovnik in April.

Jandroković said that one of the key events in the strengthening of Croatia-China relations and trust was the construction of the Pelješac bridge by China Road and Bridge Corporation.

He said the project was very important for Croatia considering that the bridge would connect Croatian territory, thus connecting EU territory.

Li, who visited Croatia in 2012, said that even though far away from each other, the two countries had close relations and that China considered Croatia one of the most important partners in the EU and Southeast and Central Europe.

The two officials also expressed satisfaction with a steady rise in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Croatia, expressing confidence that tourist cooperation would be additionally intensified, with the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) and Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) offices in Shanghai playing an important role in that.

Speaking of Croatia's participation in the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Jandroković said he was happy that this year the HGK had its own exhibition area at the event and that a Croatian-Chinese business forum would be held, with Croatian companies presenting their products, services, technologies and ideas.

Jandroković said that both sides were very satisfied with the high level of overall bilateral relations.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 3, 2019 - Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, who is on an official visit to China on 2-6 November, on Sunday visited Huawei, a Chinese multinational technology company specialised in manufacturing telecommunications equipment, including smartphones.

Senior executives of this company, headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, informed the Croatian official of the group's operation in more than 170 countries worldwide and participation in digitisation and digital transformation processes.

They expressed satisfaction with the company's business in Croatia.

In that context they recall two memoranda signed by Croatia's central state office for the development of digital society and Huawei Technologies Croatia in April this year during the China+17 Summit in Dubrovnik.

The documents strengthen the cooperation between Croatia and the company in the field of the development of smart city project and in exchange of know-how between the company and Croatian universities., which enables Croatian undergraduates to acquire further education in Huawei research and development centres in China.

Jandroković expressed satisfaction with the talks in the Huawei headquarters, adding that the Chinese group has announced new business projects in Croatia.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 2, 2019 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković is paying an official visit to China from 2 to 6 November and during his stay in that Asian country he will travel to Shanghai and Beijing, reads the Sabor's press release.

The Croatian official will commence his visit with his reception by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Li Zhanshu, in the capital city.

During his stay in Beijing, Jandroković is due to hold meetings with the Huawei company's top executives and attend an exhibition about China's achievements and progress in the last 70 years.

The Sabor speaker will be at the helm of Croatia's delegation at the second International Import Expo that starts in Shanghai on Tuesday.

In that city, Jandroković is expected to hold a speech on the role of governments in creation of regulations, opening of markets, and prospects of multinational companies.

He will be one of the guests at the special dinner to be hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shanghai within China International Import Expo.

On the last day of his visit, 6 November, Jandroković will take part in a Chinese-Croatian business forum in that the most populous urban area in China.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 28, 2019 - Chinese-Croatian relations have entered the best period in history, Ambassador Xu Erwen said in Zagreb on Friday at a ceremony marking 70 years of the People's Republic of China.

"Over the past 70 years China was a nation with scars from humiliation," she said, adding that China, from a country struck by wars in an almost feudal society, had become "the world's second economy."

"As regards China-Croatia relations, they have already entered the best period in history," the ambassador said. "Both our prime ministers said our relations had entered the diamond period," she added, referring to Chinese PM Li Keqiang's statement in Zagreb last April.

The ambassador said Chinese-Croatian economic relations had gained momentum and that the "Chinese investment" in the Pelješac bridge had been received very well in Croatia. "Many people are congratulating me on the bridge and appreciate very much this Chinese contribution to Croatia's prosperity," she added.

The bridge in southernmost Croatia is being built by the China Bridge and Road Corporation. The EU is co-financing 85% of the construction costs and Croatia the rest.

"We have many more opportunities to develop cooperation, notably in digital economy," the ambassador said, adding that more than 500,000 Chinese tourists visited Croatia this year.

Many former and incumbent Croatian officials, ambassadors accredited in Croatia, athletes, academicians and others attended the ceremony Xu hosted at Esplanade hotel.

"Today China is very determined to protect its sovereignty, national security and interest," she told reporters, commenting on the situation in Hong Kong, relations with Taiwan and the status of the Uyghurs.

"The most important job in Hong Kong is to reject the violence and restore the rule of law. Hong Kong is Chinese Hong Kong. We strongly object to foreign meddling in China's internal matters," she said.

She said Taiwan, which officially calls itself the Republic of China, was an "inseparable part" of the People's Republic of China and that there was "only one China in the world." "We oppose any separatism," she added.

Xu also commented on the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where the status of the Uyghurs has come to the attention of the international community and human rights groups which claim that members of that Muslim minority have been imprisoned without trials.

"Xinjiang is a beautiful place which had a lot of terrorism and violence over 20 years that claimed many innocent lives. The Chinese government therefore introduced a series of measures to stop terrorists, including centres that stop people from having terrorist ideas," she said, calling this measure very effective as "there has been no terrorism over the past three years."

"Many foreign journalists, international organisations and diplomats have been in Xinjiang and they are very impressed with the prosperity and stability there," the ambassador said.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, September 3, 2019 - The relations between Croatia and China, based on mutual trust and respect, have been steadily developed for the past 27 years to reach an enviable level following the Croatian Prime Minister's visit to China in late 2018 and the Chinese premier's visit to Croatia in 2019, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said in Zagreb on Monday.

Addressing the ceremony of opening of an exhibition on China's development in the past 40 years in the Croatian capital, Jandroković said that the bilateral relations had been continuously developed since 1992 when the two countries established their diplomatic relations.

The visit of Premier Li Keqiang to Croatia this April has made our friendship and a high-level mutual trust even stronger, said Jandroković.

That visit has given an impetus to the strengthening of our political dialogue which is entering a diamond era, he added.

PM Andrej Plenković travelled to China in November 2018 and his Chinese counterpart was in Zagreb and Dubrovnik this April.

Dubrovnik was the venue of a summit meeting of the China+16 format for the implementation of the projects within The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in a number of countries.

During the visit of the top Chinese delegation to Croatia, the two countries concluded 11 agreements.

"Today the symbol of this bilateral cooperation is Pelješac Bridge. It will be a permanent monument to our friendly relations," said Jandroković, in reference to the fact that the future bridge is being built by China Road and Bridge Corporation.

The Chinese ambassador Xu Erwen, who has recently assumed the ambassadorial post in Zagreb, said that the two countries had made excellent progress in their bilateral relations in the recent years.

The trade between the two countries increased by 16.2% last year, said Xu, who is the 9th Chinese ambassador to Zagreb.

She also spoke about the importance of trilateral cooperation between her country, Croatia and the EU.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 14, 2019 - Eight Chinese police officers, who were deployed in the areas of four Croatian police departments from July 13 to August 14, on Wednesday ended their participation in the "Safe Tourist Season 2019" project, as part of which police officers from countries that generate most foreign visits in Croatia help during the summer their Croatian colleagues in providing for security on the Adriatic coast.

The State Secretary at the Tourism Ministry, Tonči Glavina, thanked Chinese police officers for their participation in the project and for helping show that Croatia is a safe country.

There were no reports of incidents during the stay of the Chinese police officers and their joint patrols with Croatian police, and their presence had a positive effect on Chinese tourists, who approached them for information, as confirmed by the head of the Chinese team, Xue Qiang, who said that Chinese police officers had also visited Chinese citizens living in Croatia and praised the project as having strengthened the two countries' friendship and cooperation.

Velimir Tišma, head of the sector for crime prevention of the Zagreb City Police Department, said that dozens of thousands of Chinese tourists visited Zagreb every year and that police worked continually on the safety of tourists in the capital, which included additional police training.

He recalled that Croatian police had made, in cooperation with Chinese police, a leaflet in the Croatian and Chinese languages, to be distributed as of next season to Chinese tourists throughout the country, with useful information on self-protective behaviour.

Deputy Chief Police Director Josip Ćelić said that the project helped build strong partnerships, improved the quality of police services and boosted the confidence of Croatian citizens and foreign visitors in Croatian police.

The eight Chinese police officers were deployed in Dubrovnik-Neretva, Lika-Senj, Zadar and Zagreb counties.

China is the first Asian country to join in this project and 2019 was the second consecutive year that Chinese police officers visited Croatia as part of the project, which involved 95 police officers from 19 countries this year.

More news about Croatian tourism can be found in the Travel section.

ZAGREB, July 13, 2019 - A ceremony marking the participation of eight Chinese police officers in the 2019 Safe Tourist Season was held in Zagreb's main square on Saturday.

The Chinese police will patrol together with their Croatian colleagues the most popular destinations in Croatia for Chinese guests: Zagreb, Zadar, Dubrovnik and Lika-Senj County.

The Croatian Chief of Police Nikola Milina said at the ceremony that he was satisfied with the expansion of this cooperation. Last year, six Chinese law enforcement officers were included in this project, and this year there are two more policemen from that Asian country.

The Safe Tourism Season project includes foreign police officers, and the first to join the project were Hungarian police, in 2006.

Over the years, a total of 804 police officers from 19 countries have come to Croatia during the tourist season to assist their Croatian colleagues.

Milina underscores that this season, there are a record high number of 95 police officers from a total of 19 countries.

The project has been recognised in international police forums, Interpol also recommends it as a project of the best international police practice, he said.

Chinese Ambassador Xu Erwen said the inclusion of Chinese police in the project confirmed traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 22, 2019 - The Culture and Tourism Department of China's Shanxi Province, in cooperation with the Croatian-Chinese Friendship Society, in Zagreb on Friday organised a conference on cultural and tourism cooperation between the province and Croatia at which both sides expressed a desire to intensify their cooperation.

The conference was organised as part of activities marking 2019 as the year of cooperation between China and Croatia. It brought together over a hundred representatives of the Chinese province's tourism and culture sector, the Chinese Embassy, the Croatian Tourist Board, the Tourism Department of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and Croatian travel agencies. Before the conference, several travel agencies held a meeting with potential Chinese partners and some of them signed cooperation agreements.

He Zhiyong, the managing director of a Shanxi-based travel agency, said that Croatia was very attractive to Chinese tourists.

"This is my third time in Croatia and I am doing all I can to establish business cooperation with one of Croatian partners, because tourists from our province want to come to Croatia. And we are telling them that they should go not just because of beaches and islands, but also because of Croatia's rich culture and history, which is also very attractive," he said.

He said that he did not have a deal with any Croatian travel agency yet, but believed that this would change soon and Croatian tourists would soon come to Shanxi to enjoy its historical and cultural attractions.

Tourism consultant Dubravka Davidović said that today's conference followed up on the 16+1 strategy to increase tourist cooperation between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries.

"Since this is the year of cooperation between China and Croatia, we believe that we will have a lot more tourists from China this year than we have had so far, as was the case in other countries," Davidovic said, adding that some countries that hosted 16+1 meetings had seen fivefold increases in the number of Chinese visitors.

Shanxi Province is situated on the Loess Plateau in northern China. It has 271 cultural landmarks under state protection, which accounts for 11.5 percent of all such landmarks in the country. Many of the historical sites are included on the UNESCO world heritage list, including the Terracotta Army, a collection of terracotta sculptures of warriors dating from approximately the late third century BCE.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, June 18, 2019 - Chinese permits for Croatian dairy products  should be finalised by the end of the year, which will open the Chinese market to Croatian exporters, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić said on Tuesday.

The procedure is in its final stage and we hope exports could begin by the year's end, Tolušić told the press after a meeting at government headquarters with Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfu. The meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Tolušić said that the procedure to issue permits was initiated five years ago and that Croatia wished to avoid such a long procedure in the future because it was also interested in exporting poultry, pork, fresh and frozen tuna and other products to China.

"We want a much bigger commodity exchange in agriculture and the food industry and that's why we need Chinese permits," Tolušić said. "We are glad that the Chinese agriculture ministry sees this and is willing to help us," he added.

Tolušić said that by the end of this year the Chinese would make a promo film about Croatian food products and would broadcast it on Chinese TV channels to help promote Croatian products on the Chinese market.

Minister Han said that the Croatian-Chinese cooperation in the agriculture sector was very good and that China wants to intensify it.

"The Chinese market needs quality products and this could help Croatian agriculture, while on the other hand Chinese citizens can enjoy quality Croatian products," Han said.

He added that he expected Croatian dairy products to be placed on the Chinese market soon and announced the media promotion of these and other food products from Croatia.

More news about Croatian agriculture can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, June 17, 2019 - A delegation of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs led by Minister Han Changfu arrived in Zagreb on Monday for a three-day official visit to Croatia.

During their stay in Croatia, the Chinese officials will be received by Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić and visit several agricultural and food producers, the ministry said in a press release.

The talks with Tolušić are scheduled for Monday afternoon.

A joint press conference will be held after a meeting in the government on Tuesday.

The delegation will visit the Koka poultry processing plant in Varaždin and after that it will travel to the southern coastal town of Ston to tour the local saltworks and oyster farms.

Minister Tolušić conducted a visit to China last week where he attended the 4th dialogue between China and Central and Eastern European countries regarding customs, inspections and quarantine.

Tolušić 's visit to China was aimed at speeding up the process of approving the import of Croatian agricultural products - particularly meat and meat products, fresh tuna and honey to China, and that was the topic of a bilateral meeting between Minister Tolušić and Vice Minister Wang Lingjun in the General Administration of Customs (GACC).

The two officials then agreed on further exchanging information with the aim of expediting procedures and strengthening foreign-trade exchange of agricultural products between Croatia and China.

During an official visit of China's Premier Li Keqiang to Croatia in April, a protocol was signed paving the way for the export of Croatian dairy products to the Chinese market following the inspection of Croatia's processing plants and food control system by Chinese experts.

More news about relations between Croatia and China can be found in the Politics section.