China, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Port, Railways, Transport

Weng Mengyong and Anrijs Matiss. Photo: flickr.com

The two sides pointed out that discussed during today's meeting were cooperation possibilities between Latvia and China in the transportation sector, as well as possibilities in renewing the New Silk Road.

''Already in 2008, we launched our first test train of cargo shipments from China to Latvia, and this situation has become more current at the moment. The Chinese side has also expressed active interest in using our transit corridor in shipping their goods from China to the EU,'' Matiss said.

He also explained that the two sides also discussed the possibility of creating a Chinese logistics center in Latvia on one of the special economic zones, as well as cooperation in the port infrastructure sector, as well as in the aviation and rail sectors.

''The visiting Chinese delegation is large, and they have expressed interest in cooperation in various areas,'' Matiss said, adding that several meetings will be held in the upcoming days to prepare offers. He added that cooperation with China will be a large contribution to Latvia's transportation corridor.

Mengyong also said that cooperation was discussed and that he has trust in Latvia's offer. Furthermore, he added that cargo shipments through Latvia could commence in the near future.

The Chinese delegation is in Riga this week to attend the high level conference on transport, logistics and trade routes – "Connecting Asia with Europe".