China, Bulgaria pledge to expand two-way trade

China and Bulgaria issued a joint statement here Thursday, pledging to boost bilateral exchanges and promote two-way trade cooperation.

Visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev held in-depth exchanges of views with Chinese officials and reached a broad consensus on cementing ties and other regional and international issues of common concern.

Four agreements were signed to enhance the economic, investment and media cooperation.

The two sides agreed on the importance of the economic and trade cooperation, vowing to expand investment and maintain trade balance and enlarge the scale of the cooperation.

The two sides attached importance to political dialogue, and respected each other's chosen development road.

China congratulated Bulgaria on its entry to the European Union on January 1, 2007, believing it would enrich Sino-Bulgarian strategic cooperation. China welcomed Bulgaria's participation in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Bulgaria reaffirmed its adherence to the one-China policy.

The two sides also agreed to further exchanges on culture, education, science and tourism.

The two countries pledged to facilitate personnel exchanges.

Source: Xinhua