China is ready to connect with all initiatives and plans and jointly explore useful cooperation, said the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to BiH, Ji Ping, at the 'Coffee and Tea' Forum on the topic 'High-Quality Cooperation within the Framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and Cooperation between China and BiH'.

This forum, the seventh in a row, was held in Sarajevo, and organized by the Bosnian-Chinese Friendship Association, with the participation of special guests from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and representatives of the academic community.

Ambassador Ji mentioned the “Global Gateway” plan proposed by the European Union, which, according to the Ambassador, can be aligned with the “Belt and Road” initiative, and the Western Balkan Economic Growth Plan can be aligned with the cooperation between China and the countries of the Central and Eastern of Europe.

”This provides opportunities for all parties to fully utilize their advantages to form a new pattern of three-dimensional and diverse cooperation, and to jointly help the Western Balkans countries to accelerate the construction of transport and energy infrastructure and digital transformation,” said Ji, underlining that China supports further integration of BiH into the European Union, but also more cooperation between BiH and China.

Tian Dewen, Deputy Director of the Institute for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies at CASS, also addressed the audience and spoke in the context of the Third Forum of the “Belt and Road” Initiative for International Cooperation, which was held in Beijing in October, with the presence of the high-ranking officials from 151 countries and 41 international organizations, with signed contracts worth 97.2 billion US dollars.

Dewen said that China's key position will remain the same, which is that each country has its internal issues in the resolution of which China does not interfere, and that the “Belt and Road” has brought many positive things for all participants, and not only in the material sense, through the development of projects.
”We are convinced that China can help Bosnia and Herzegovina develop,” said Tian Dewen.

Albin Muslic, deputy chair of the Group for Asia in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, visited China within the framework of this parliamentary group during the Third Forum and said that the positive sides of that visit are visible.

The participants discussed positive examples of cooperation between the two countries, such as the visa-free regime that brought a large number of tourists to BiH, as well as projects related to infrastructure and energy, and current topics related to China's position in international relations were unavoidable.

Faruk Boric, President of the Bosnian-Chinese Friendship Association, which is also the organizer of the “Coffee and Tea” forum, spoke about his experiences from his trip to China. Boric pointed out that China's progress is visible and unstoppable, which BiH should take advantage of in the next decade, in which the development of the digital and green “Belt and Road” is expected.