(Attendees of the symposium)
BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The China Economic Cooperation Center (CECC), an economic and trade promotion agency affiliated to the International Department of CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), held the China-Tunisia “Political Parties and Pragmatic Cooperation” symposium on Thursday in Beijing. Over 30 Chinese enterprises attended the symposium and discussed with representatives of the Nidaa Tounes on a variety of topics including bilateral economic and trade cooperation and jointly building Belt and Road.
As the ruling party of Tunisia, the Nidaa Tounes has close relationship with the Communist Party of China (CPC). Hafedh Caid Essebsi, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Nidaa Tounes, said Tunisia hopes to boost bilateral economic and trade ties with China and welcomes Chinese companies to invest in Tunisia and Chinese tourists to visit the country.
China and Tunisia have good relationship. Tunisia supports China’s Belt and Road Initiative, said Dhia Khaled, Tunisia’s Ambassador to China. As an important stop along the ancient Silk Road, Tunisia hopes to become an important link of the new Silk Road.
Customs statistics show that the trade between China and Tunisia reached 1.43 billion US dollars in 2016, with trade in mechanical equipment, iron and steel, textiles, machinery and electronic products surging substantially.
Chinese enterprises participated in a number of significant projects in Tunisia, including the Gafsa dam and the Meleg dam. The two countries have also signed agreements to promote investment and prevent double taxation.
Hu Yanxin, President of the China Economic Cooperation Center, said the Belt and Road Initiative plays a significant role in promoting prosperity, safeguarding regional stability and improving global governance. The CPC and the Nidaa Tounes will size the opportunities of the Belt and Road, China’s economic “New Normal” and the revival of Tunisia’s economy to further deepen bilateral cooperation in infrastructure, energy, auto manufacture and tourism.
Chinese enterprises including China Communications Construction, Sinosteel Corporation and China Economic Information Service (CEIS), gave a brief introduction of their products and services to representatives of the Nidaa Tounes in the symposium.
China Communication Construction, one of China’s leading constructor of transportation infrastructure facilities, expressed its desire to cooperate with Tunisia in project investment and management, and building of deep-water ports and infrastructure.
Sinosteel, a large multi-national enterprise with resources development, trade & logistics, engineering project, equipment manufacturing as its core business, is planning to build a tire joint venture in Tunisia, which is estimated to involve 250 million US dollars.
CEIS is engaged in providing Belt and Road participants with a Belt and Road information service platform that integrates Xinhua Silk Road website and database. (Contributed by Zhang Aifang, Huang Xiaolan)
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