China, Cooperation, Latvia, Railways, Transport

Augulis is on a working visit to China until May 17. He attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing and is also scheduled to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials and representatives of the Chinese transport industry.

On May 14 Augulis and the Transport Ministry's State Secretary, Kaspars Ozolins, participated in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which is a key international event of the transport industry this year. Participation of the Latvian transport minister in the forum is vital for stepping up cooperation between Latvia and China in transit and logistics, the Latvian Transport Ministry said.

Speaking at the forum, Augulis said that Latvia actively participated in the discussion about the EU-China connectivity and supported expansion of the EU TEN-T network.

"Latvia has always underlined the importance of cross-border cooperation and has actively participated in bilateral and multi-national cooperation formats to facilitate transport and logistics cooperation between the countries involved in the One Belt, One Road initiative," he said, noting Latvia's advantageous geographical position on the EU external border with Russia and Belarus.

He said the first pilot container train from Yiwu, China, had arrived in Latvia last year and last week a train had departed Latvia for China with another train expected to leave Riga this week. "I am sure that soon we will be able to say that we have built a new regular and competitive transit connection," Augulis said.

Augulis and Ozolins will also meet with Chinese Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng, the leadership of the National Development and Reform Commission and representatives of the Chinese transport industry.