News

On 14 April, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas received a delegation of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. During the meeting, head of Lithuania’s diplomacy indicated that China was one of the most important Asian partners of Lithuania. Active bilateral political and economic cooperation and partnership in multilateral formats confirm this statement.

“In its relations with China, Lithuania - the same like other European Union member states - has always consistently applied the political principle of ‘one China’ and is not changing this tendency,” said Minister V.Ušackas.

Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed gratitude for the Chinese Government’s decision to partially finance the first Lithuanian initiative at ASEM (the Asia-Europe Meeting) – namely,  the initiative to organize ASEM Transport Ministers’ Meeting in Vilnius on 19-20 October 2009.

Minister V.Ušackas was also glad that during the ASEM Transport Ministers’ Meeting in Vilnius on 19 October, Asia-Europe transport development forum will take place. The forum is intended to intensify cooperation of the Asian and European businessmen in the area of transport and to help businessmen from farther Asian countries to discover attractive possibilities of investment into Lithuania.

V.Ušackas presented the Lithuania-China forum, initiated by the Ministry. The purpose of the forum is to rally institutions and persons, whose activities or fields of interest are related to China. According to Minister V.Ušackas, such an affinity forum could serve not only as the basis for closer mutual relations, but also as the “cradle” for the Lithuanian-Chinese public or business projects. The forum would encourage the Lithuanian people to take interest in this country with particularly old traditions and to strengthen people-to-people contacts.

Lithuania established diplomatic relations with China on 14 September 1921, and re-established them on 14 September 1991. The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Vilnius opened in 1992.