Foreign minister visiting China (5)

The following news release has been republished here courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Lithuania

On 24-27 May, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis is paying a working visit to China at the invitation of the country‘s Minister of Commerce Chen Deming. During the visit, the Minister is accompanied by a business delegation which consists of Lithuanian tourism sector representatives.

The agenda of the visit of Minister A.Ažubalis includes meetings with Minister of Commerce Chen Deming, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Lithuanian and Chinese bilateral relations, possibilities to strengthen economic and trade co-operation, especially in the tourism sector, are the topics that will be discussed during these meetings.

Lithuanian foreign minister will deliver a lecture at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, he will meet President of the University Chen Yulu, will join the Embassy of Lithuania during the European Union Open House Day and will participate in the seminar which is intended to present the tourism opportunities in Lithuania.

Attracting tourists from China is one the priorities of Lithuania‘s inbound tourism promotion. According to the projections of China Tourism Academy, in 2011 approximately 65 million tourists will travel from China to various countries. The calculations indicate that abroad they will spend 55 billion US dollars.

Lithuania has a big deficit of trade with China which amounted to 1.39 billion Litas (approximately 403 million EUR) in 2010. In 2010, Lithuania exported to China goods for the value of 95.9 million Litas (approximately 28 million EUR). The main goods of export to China were furniture (22 per cent of all Lithuanian exports to China), fruit and nuts (12 per cent), copper remains and collected scrap (7 per cent), ship derricks, hoisting cranes and equipment (6 per cent), peat (5 per cent).

This is the first visit by the head of Lithuania‘s diplomacy to China. The country‘s Minister of Commerce Chen Deming visited Lithuania in May 2010.

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