KIEV, July 5 (Xinhua) -- A Ukrainian-Chinese economic forum on the Belt and Road Initiative was held on Wednesday, attracting more than 200 participants.
During the event, Chinese and Ukrainian officials and representatives of business and industrial circles discussed ways to deepen the economic relations between the two countries within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The forum was jointly organized by the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
Speaking to Xinhua during the forum, Valeriy Korol, vice-president of the UCCI, highlighted the importance of the Belt and Road Initiative to Ukraine, which lies at the crossroads between the East and the West.
"I'm sure that it has a great future, first of all, for the Ukrainian business," Korol said.
Ukraine and China have made a series of steps toward closer partnership under the Belt and Road Initiative, which included a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on bilateral cooperation, Korol noted.
In the meantime, he pointed out that much work lies ahead to use all the opportunities offered by the initiative to overcome a string of challenges.
"The question is that -- how effectively the Ukrainian side can overcome the challenges, adapt to them and offer its own options and programs to Chinese partners," Korol said.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yi, deputy secretary-general of China Chamber of International Commerce, said that China and Ukraine must align their respective development strategies to fully tap their cooperation potential.
"I hope that the business and the industrial circles of the two countries will take advantage of this forum to begin in-depth exchanges, achieve even greater mutual understanding, and find new opportunities for cooperation," Zhang said.
She added that Ukraine and China must exploit their complementarities to push forward bilateral cooperation in agriculture, mining, processing industry and infrastructure.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Infrastructure Minister Viktor Dovgan, pragmatic cooperation between China and Ukraine in infrastructure is already thriving.
"We actively participate in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past year, the amount of infrastructure projects implemented by the Chinese companies in Ukraine has reached 200 million U.S. dollars," Dovgan told Xinhua.
Besides, in the near future, Ukraine together with partners from China plans to launch a project on building a bridge in Kremenchug city, an industrial hub in central Ukraine.
"It is a symbolic project -- the construction of a bridge across the Dnieper River," Dovgan said, adding that it could symbolize a bridge linking the two countries under the Belt and Road Initiative.
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