On June 20, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

During the meeting, Hu said China and Croatia are traditionally friendly nations and there are no fundamental conflicts of interest between them. The Chinese-Croatian ties have been developing steadily since the two countries established diplomatic relations 17 years ago, with increasing political trust, expanding trade cooperation and fruitful cooperation in other areas, Hu said. Bilateral cooperation in various fields has greatly improved since China and Croatia forged comprehensive partnership of cooperation in 2005, Hu said. Over the past four years, both sides have respected each other with equal consultations in the political area, consolidating the political foundation of bilateral ties. In the economic sector, the two countries have conducted mutually beneficial cooperation for common development with the trade volume growing continuously. They have also carried out effective exchanges on culture, education, science and technology and built up the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. China and Croatia have also conducted sound communication and coordination in international and regional affairs.

Hu emphasized that the development process of relations between the two countries proves that the differences in history, culture, social system and development level are no obstacles to the development of state-to-state relations. So long as both sides adhere to the principle of mutual respect, equality and win-win cooperation, take each other's major concerns into full consideration and advance mutually beneficial cooperation with a positive attitude, bilateral ties will surely move forward continuously.

As the global financial crisis is still spreading, the two countries are now facing new opportunities in further developing their relations. The two countries should focus on the following four aspects in carrying out cooperation.

First, expand cooperation in trade and economy, which could help them resist the impact of the crisis, the Chinese president said. The two sides, he said, also need to step up efforts in maintaining trade stability, carrying out economic cooperation in diversified forms, promoting balanced growth of bilateral trade and expanding two-way investment. Hu said China and Croatia should not only boost cooperation between large companies but also need to promote cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises. He also encouraged Croatian enterprises to be more proactive in exploring China's market.

Second, the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in technology and tourism and to nurture new opportunities in their pragmatic cooperation, Hu said, adding they should make joint efforts to guarantee the successful holding of the fourth meeting of the Croatian-Chinese scientific and technological cooperation committee in Beijing in the second half of this year. Efforts should be made to push forward bilateral scientific and technological cooperation, especially in the high-tech area. Croatia has become a country of destination for Chinese tourists going overseas. Both sides should make full use of the favorable condition to attract more Chinese tourists to Croatia for sightseeing.

Third, both sides should carry out people-to-people and cultural exchanges in diversified forms. Hu said cooperation on language teaching and media should be a focus. The Chinese side welcomed Croatia to participate in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and will provide support for the early opening of the Confucius Institutes in Croatia, Hu added.

Fourth, the Chinese president also stressed the importance of mobilizing the initiative and enthusiasm of the local governments of the two sides. The exchanges between friendship cities and provinces of the two countries should be encouraged to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas and promote bilateral ties.

Echoing Hu's remarks, Sanader said the Croatian government warmly welcomed President Hu's visit, which fully indicated the traditional friendship between the two countries and would play an important role in promoting the development of bilateral ties. Despite the numerous mountains and rivers keeping the two countries apart, their bilateral ties are very close. Both countries have long kept friendly cooperation and have pushed their bilateral relations to a relatively high level. He expressed his hope that the two sides could carry out pragmatic cooperation in various fields such as culture, education, science and tourism and between localities, particularly, on trade and economy. The Croatian government welcomed Chinese enterprises to make investment in Croatia, to engage in the construction of Croatia's infrastructure facilities such as airports and ports and to conduct cooperation on energy, wood processing, construction, food processing and pharmacy. Sanader also encouraged Croatian enterprises to launch businesses and make investment in China in a bid to promote cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries. He also called for deepened mutual understanding through tourism cooperation so as to push forward bilateral ties. The Croatian government also confirmed its participation in the Shanghai World Expo.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the meeting.