China—Czech Cooperation Opens Gateway to Middle—East Europe

The Czech Republic is located in Middle Europe， neighboring Germany，Austria，Slovakia and Poland. With rich democratic traditions and historical heritages， it has long been an appealing travel destination for the rest of the world. It is not only famous for beer， but also has a solid industrial foundation. Some of the major industrial products include manufacturing equipment， machine tools， power equipment， ships， cars， electronic haulage motors， steel rolling equipment， chemical products and glasses. The industrial zones in the country have attracted investments from many countries including Japan， South Korea， and China.

In the past ten years， the economic cooperation between China and Czech has greatly increased. Czech is now the second largest trade partner of China in Middle-East Europe， only after Poland. China as the fourth biggest trade partner of Czech， exports cars and car components， metal and steel， electronic products and textile products to the latter. In 2014， bilateral trade volume was 11 billion US dollars， increased by 16.2% than previous year.

For many Chinese companies， Czech is part of the European market and gateway into the regional market. In recent years， as high-level bilateral visits increases， the exchange in many fields between China and Czech is also strengthening. For Chinese companies to better enter Czech market， the Embassy here in China has simplified the visa application procedures. The direct flights between China and Prague are expected to be launched in this September.

As the second biggest city of Czech， Brno is acclaimed as the capital of exhibition in the country. The Central European Exhibition Center has a hall space of 200，000 square meters and is one of the largest venues in Europe. Manufacturing equipment accounts for 60% of bilateral trade. MSV Brno as one of the most prestigious industrial exhibitions was first launched in 1959 and welcomes about 1，500 exhibitors every year. Last year， 76，155 trade visitors from 53 countries attended the fair. About 75 Chinese exhibitors participated， the scale ranking fourth among over 3o participating countries. Czech Industry and Trade Ministry is now coordinating for China to participate as the partner country in 2017. If so happens， the exhibition will be revived itself and the China group will gain more publicity from the media.