News

During his working visit to China on 26 May, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis met Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and said that the large bilateral trade imbalance could be reduced by attracting Chinese investments to Lithuania’s main export sectors and invited the Chinese to establish information technology and logistics centres in Lithuania.

Minister A.Ažubalis proposed to hold the meeting of the Working Group on Investment Promotion in Vilnius and invited a Chinese investment delegation to visit Lithuania. Chen Deming took this proposal.

The Ministers agreed that the Working Group on Investment Promotion would meet in the short run in Vilnius.

Minister A.Ažubalis said he was glad to see the first success of Lithuanian diplomats in attracting investments from China and recalled that China’s biggest telecommunication equipment maker by sales Huawei Technologies Company and Omnitel, a mobile telecommunications company, had signed an agreement on the establishment of joint science laboratory in Vilnius University. The Minister said he believed that there would be even more examples of such successful cooperation.

In 2010, Lithuania’s trade deficit with China amounted to 1.39 billion Litas. In 2010, goods worth 95.9 million Litas were exported to China. On 31 December 2010, China’s direct investment in Lithuania amounted to 7.9 million Litas. China has ranked 45th among foreign investors.

Head of the Lithuanian diplomacy noted that bilateral economic cooperation could also be strengthened in the tourism sector, where there was a lot of untapped potential.

“The tourism sector is among the ones, where the potential for cooperation is not being fully exhausted,” said Minister A.Ažubalis.

The Minister stressed that one of the objectives of his visit was to initiate a dialogue between institutions responsible for tourism in Lithuania and China and to establish contacts, which would promote mutual tourism exchanges.

Soon after the meeting with the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Minister A.Ažubalis welcomed China’s youth who came to take part in the European Union Open House Day at the Lithuanian Embassy.

“I hope that the knowledge that you have gained about Lithuania will encourage you to actively take further interest in this country,” the Minister said.

In co-operation with All China Youth Federation, the Embassy has invited China’s youth, students learning the Lithuanian language and journalists to get acquainted with Lithuania and the country’s diplomatic mission in Beijing. The Embassy also organized a quiz about Lithuania and a basketball free-throw shooting contest.

Tourist attraction from China is one the priorities of Lithuania’s inbound tourism promotion. According to the report of China Tourism Academy, tourists from China will make 65 million trips to foreign countries in 2011. They are expected to spend $55 billion overseas.

2011 is declared as the EU-China Year of Youth.