2015年CRI Czech PM Calls for Close Ties with China

Czech PM Calls for Close Ties with China

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is leading a delegation¹ of politicians and business leaders to China this week.

Sobotka says the Czech Republic is now actively² promoting the "16+1" mechanism³ among China and the 16 countries which make up central and eastern Europe, saying the mechanism has a lot of potential for the development of future cooperation.

"In the past three years, the "16+1" cooperation mechanism has been proven to be workable and fruitful, and it has attracted more and more European countries to collaborate⁴ with China. For the first time, Austria and Greece have also joined this year's summit as observers, while many other EU member states have showed their interest to the mechanism."

Beyond the usual pledges of broad-based cooperation at these types of meetings, high-speed rail construction has been put forward as a specific area where China can help Central and Eastern Europe develop.

The final touches on an agreement have been made to create a rail link connecting Hungary's capital Budapest with the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

At the same time, the Chinese side has also put forward a plan to give Central and Eastern European countries more access to infrastructure⁵ financing, including China becoming part of a European development bank, while at the same time, giving the 16-countries in the CCE grouping preferential access to capital from Chinese banks.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says this should help create closer ties with China's financial system.

"Right now, the Bank of China has set up a branch in the capital city Prague. Now we are looking for more Chinese financial institutions to have their offices in Czech. Yesterday, I have visited the well-known Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and the bank is also considering to expand its overseas business to Czech. As such, we will continue our effort to make Prague a financial hub linking China and Central, Eastern Europe."

Beyond traditional cooperation, which has almost exclusively focused on infrastructure, the Czech Prime Minister says his government needs to foster closer contact with China on an educational level.

"We welcome more Chinese students to study in the Czech Republic. In fact, our country is in need of more Chinese interpreters. Since business contacts have been extended, and more and more Czech cities are establishing partnership⁶ with China, there is a high demand for people who can speak both Czech and Chinese."

The Chinese and Czech governments are also looking into setting up a joint⁷ science and research institute.

As part of his time in China, Sobotka has also given a lecture at Peking University.

He is also sitting down with Chinese President Xi Jinping before wrapping up his week-long visit to China.

For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen. 

1 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

2 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。