26 April 2012 (ERR)

While in Warsaw for a summit of Central and Eastern Europe countries yesterday, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip also made time for China.

China was on the agenda at the summit itself, with 16 regional heads of government declaring that the extent of the cooperation with the People's Republic was not sufficient. The summit was also followed by a one-on-one meeting between Ansip and his counterpart Wen Jiabao.

Ansip and Wen assessed bilateral relations as good and extensive, and Ansip said he was pleased with thriving economic ties between the countries, with growth of trade in 2011 significant.

"Last year our trade grew more than 60 percent," said Ansip, "yet there is still much unused potential in our economic and trade relations. We can't speak of major reciprocal investments."

Ansip said Estonia was looking to deepen and broaden cooperation in various fields - transit, air transport and tourism. Wen agreed and welcomed a plan to hold a session of a joint intergovernmental committee - set up back in 1993 - to discuss topics in detail in the autumn.

Although Ansip's Reform Party members have been outspoken in international forums against the crackdown against human rights in Belarus, the increasing protests in Tibet were not discussed.

Wen promised to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Estonia, crediting the country for its positive economic indicators, while calling on Estonian business leaders to do the same.