the branches of china-bulgaria friendship are flourishing and fruitful (ambassador’s essay·promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind)
2024-10-04
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october 4 this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between china and bulgaria. bulgaria is the second country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with the people's republic of china. the two countries have profound traditional friendship and have always understood and supported each other on issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns. the branches of friendship are flourishing and fruitful.
zhongbao insists on being good friends who respect and trust each other. the bulgarian government has long-term and firm support for the one-china policy, laying an important political foundation for the development of bilateral relations. bulgaria provides valuable support for china to resume its lawful seat in the united nations. the two countries have always respected each other's choice of political system and development path, treated each other as equals, and did not interfere in each other's internal affairs. under the leadership of president xi jinping and bulgarian president radev, the relationship between the two countries has been upgraded from a comprehensive friendly cooperative partnership to a strategic partnership. the important consensus reached by the two heads of state provides strategic guidance and fundamental compliance for the development of china-bulgaria relations.
zhongbao insists on being a good partner for win-win cooperation. bulgaria is located where east meets west and is a trade corridor between europe and asia. bulgaria is an important participant and promoter of cooperation between china and central and eastern european countries, and is a good friend and partner of china in the eu. in 2015, bulgaria became one of the first central and eastern european countries to sign an intergovernmental cooperation document on the joint construction of the “belt and road” with china. in the past 10 years, the trade volume between china and bulgaria has increased by approximately 130%. china is bulgaria's third largest trading partner outside the eu and second largest export destination. bulgaria is china's largest agricultural product trading partner in central and eastern europe. as bulgaria accelerates its energy transformation, fully promotes infrastructure construction, develops rapidly in research and application in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, and gradually implements the policy of joining the schengen area, chinese and bulgarian enterprises have a stronger desire to explore each other's markets. china's investment cooperation in bulgaria gratifying progress has been made in automobiles and parts, new energy, information and communications, agriculture, finance and other fields.
zhongbao insists on being a fellow traveler of mutual learning among civilizations. the bulgarian people have a strong interest in chinese culture, and cultural exchanges have become a source of vitality for the relations between the two countries. the first confucius institute in the balkans and the first inaugurated and operational chinese cultural center in central and eastern european countries are both located in sofia, the capital of bulgaria. activities such as the spring festival gala, the chinese film festival, and the dragon boat festival cultural festival have been warmly welcomed by the bulgarian people. bulgaria’s rose festival, yogurt festival and various scenic spots are very attractive to chinese tourists. the "chinese language craze" continues to heat up in bulgaria, the scale of exchanges between international students from the two countries continues to expand, local exchanges are active and active, and talent exchanges and cooperation are fruitful.
the third plenary session of the 20th cpc central committee focused on further comprehensively deepening reforms and promoting chinese-style modernization, and made strategic arrangements for improving high-level opening-up systems and mechanisms, providing new and greater opportunities for practical cooperation between china and bulgaria. president radev recently attended the "china famous products exhibition and china-bulgaria trade and investment matchmaking conference" jointly organized by the chinese embassy in bulgaria and the bulgarian "belt and road" national federation, and held discussions with more than 20 leading chinese companies, reflecting bulgaria's attach great importance to the development of cooperation with china. all walks of life in bulgaria look forward to elevating practical cooperation between the two sides to a new level. china will be more proactive in opening its market to bulgaria, making china's big market a big opportunity for bulgaria and other central and eastern european countries.
standing at the new historical starting point of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, china-bulgaria relations have great potential and broad prospects. china is willing to work with bulgaria to move forward hand in hand amid a century of changes, enhance high-level exchanges, strengthen the alignment of development strategies, intensify people-to-people and cultural exchanges, promote the deepening and solidification of china-bulgaria strategic partnership, and jointly create a better future for china-bulgaria relations.
(the author is dai qingli, chinese ambassador to bulgaria)
source: people's daily
