China has shrugged off the trade implications of souring diplomatic ties with Lithuania and pressure from the United States, as a senior economic official pointed to strong engagement with Central and Eastern Europe. “Although Lithuania has jumped out and sent a token of loyalty to the US, countries such as Croatia, Serbia and Hungary … they continue to proactively get closer with us without caring about [pressure from] the US,” said Ning Jizhe, deputy head of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency. Speaking at a forum on Saturday, Ning also argued that Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative has continued to make progress, despite alleged suppression and constraints by Washington. China’s relations with Lithuania have dramatically cooled down this year after the Baltic state pulled out of the China-led 17+1 mechanism with Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations earlier this year. Keeping big brothers at bay: why Lithuania is taking on China And last month, Beijing formally downgraded its diplomatic relations with Vilnius after it allowed Taipei to open a de facto embassy. Subsequently, Lithuanian exporters reported earlier this month that they were unable to send shipments to China, citing technical problems. Four days later , they had again been granted access to the Chinese market, but Lithuania’s largest trade body warned that cargos to and from the European Union member country still faced extended procedures and delays. The European Commission laid out plans on Wednesday to retaliate against countries that put economic pressure on EU members to change their policies, while stressing that the main purpose was to create a deterrent. In sharp contrast to the situation with Lithuania, Croatia’s largest wind farm, which was constructed by a Chinese company, was inaugurated and began its trial operation last week. Heads of government on both sides hailed the project. Ning said the ceremony was requested by the European side. And before that, construction began on a new section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Serbia at a ceremony in late November. “That shows that the momentum of cooperation between us and CEE countries is still very good,” Ning said at the forum while elaborating on some of the decisions that were made at the annual central economic work conference last week. Despite their recent row, the value of China’s imports from Lithuania still grew by 17.7 per cent to US$40.3 million in October, while exports to Lithuania rose by 34.2 per cent to US$192.2 million, according to the Chinese customs data. Ning said that stabilising foreign investment and trade will continue to be an economic priority in 2022, and that China will seek to build more infrastructure – on par with US and European standards – in belt and road countries. The focus in those places, he said, will be on creating sustainable projects and investments that improve local residents’ livelihoods. So far, the number of countries participating in the belt and road plan has reached 144 since the initiative emerged in 2013. West Africa’s Burkina Faso is the latest, having signed a memorandum of understanding with China last month. In the first 10 months of this year, China invested US$16.17 billion in 57 belt and road countries, marking an 14.6 per cent increase from a year earlier. Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Bangladesh and Cambodia are the main destinations, according to the commerce ministry. As a star project of the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Europe railway express handled 12,605 trips from January-October, carrying 1.22 million twenty-feet equivalent units. Those figures were 26 per cent and 33 per cent increases from the same period a year ago, respectively, and both surpassed the full-year totals from last year. Although the rail network has played an increasingly important role during the pandemic, as a result of disruptions to sea shipments, Ning said the railway has also faced congestion similar to that seen at shipping ports, with many trains stuck in Europe and unable to get back to China.