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Premier Li Keqiang is meeting 16 central and eastern European leaders at a summit to cement Beijing's plans for a new transport network to funnel exports into Europe.
Infrastructure and transport top the agenda of the two-day meeting that ends today in Belgrade.
Beijing hopes to turn the Greek port of Piraeus - where the Chinese shipping giant Cosco has a 35-year concession to hugely expand its two container terminals - into a new hub for trade with Europe.
Despite being hit hard by the economic crisis, Greece still has the world's largest merchant marine fleet, and China is one of its key customers.
Li discussed investment in Greece's crumbling railways during a visit to Athens in August, including a high-speed rail project.
"We will propose construction of a rapid land and maritime route based on the Budapest-Belgrade railroad and the Greek port of Piraeus to improve regional connectivity," Li told Serbian media ahead of the summit in Belgrade.
The signing of a deal for a high-speed bullet train link between Budapest and Belgrade, to be built by 2017, with Li's Hungarian and Serbian counterparts, Viktor Orban and Aleksandar Vucic, is the centrepiece of the gathering. "We will set a mid-term agenda to define our future cooperation and present financial measures that will facilitate it," Li said.
Beijing said it was interested in investing in energy, agriculture and industry as well as infrastructure projects in the 16 countries.
Trade between China and the region, which has expanded five-fold since 2003, is also on the agenda. Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said trade with the region could exceed US$60 billion this year, up US$4.9 billion on last year.
Some countries, including Poland, hope to increase exports to China after Russia banned food imports in retaliation for EU sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukrainian conflict.
"We hope to sell a lot of Polish food to China because we have problems with Russia right now and Russia was rather a huge market for Polish fruit, vegetables and meat," Professor Bogdan Goralczyk, of the Central & Eastern Europe Development Institute, said.


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Prime Minister Li Keqiang with Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade ahead of a regional meeting. Photo: Xinhua

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Premier Li Keqiang is meeting 16 central and eastern European leaders at a summit to cement Beijing's plans for a new transport network to funnel exports into Europe.


China prepares to inject US$10 billion of funds into cash-strapped Balkans

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Premier Li Keqiang is meeting 16 central and eastern European leaders at a summit to cement Beijing's plans for a new transport network to funnel exports into Europe.

Premier Li Keqiang is meeting 16 central and eastern European leaders at a summit to cement Beijing's plans for a new transport network to funnel exports into Europe.