News

On 8 July, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius saw off candidates to the Lithuanian national basketball team leaving for China, where they will play a friendly match with the Chinese national basketball team on 15-20 July. “A friendly encounter between the two national basketball teams will undoubtedly allow for strengthening people-to-people relations and searching for affinity with this quickly developing Asian country – one of the world’s largest economies,” said the Vice-Minister.

According to the Vice-Minister, a political and economic gravitational centre is shifting towards China. Therefore, both China and Lithuania need a lot to learn about each other. Sports certainly help us to draw closer together and to learn more about each other.

Aiming at strengthening bilateral cooperation, the Lithuania-China forum was established at the initiative of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the end of May. The forum has an objective to organise institutions and persons, the activities of which are related to China.

It is expected that the forum will serve as the basis not only for the establishment of closer mutual relations, but also as a cradle for new Lithuanian-Chinese political, business, academic and cultural projects, and will motivate Lithuanian people to take interest in this country, which has maintained its especially old traditions.

China is one of Lithuania’s key partners in Asia. This is illustrated by the intensive bilateral political and economic cooperation and partnership in multilateral frameworks. Lithuania, just like other EU member states, has always adhered to the One-China Principle in its relations with this country and is not changing its policy with regard to China.

Lithuania established diplomatic relations with China on 14 September 1921 and re-established them on 14 September 1991.