Bilateral relations: The diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on October 4, 1949.
In June, Premier Zhu Rongji paid an official visit to Bulgaria, where he held talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and met with Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov, National Assembly Chairman Iordan Sokolov, leaders of the parliamentary party groups and the mayor of Sofia Sofianski. During the visit, the two sides signed a series of Agreements on Cooperation.
Economic cooperation: The Sino-Bulgarian Mixed Committee of Economy, Trade and Science and Technology was established in 1985 and since then eight regular meetings have been convened.
The annual trade volumes between China and Bulgaria in the recent years are as follows:
Year Total Volume Chinese Import Chinese Export
1996 US$61.38 million US$33.92 million US$27.46 million
1997 US$47.97 million US$16.59 million US$31.38 million
1998 US$47.99 million US$2.80 million US$45.19 million
1999 US$62.66 million US$9.22 million US$53.44 million
2000 US$94.30 million US$13.47 million US$80.83 million