Croatia is interested in introducing a direct airline route to China, while China, apart from being involved in the construction of the Peljesac Bridge project, showed interest in investing in the Croatian ports of Zadar and Rijeka, a senior official at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Tomislav Mihotic, said.

The fourth ministerial conference attended by officials from China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), was held in the city of Ningbo, China, on Thursday, and focused on projects involving direct cooperation with China, Mihotic told the state news agency Hina on Friday.

He said that the construction of the Peljesac Bridge was the first EU-funded project won by a Chinese company in a public tender. By winning the contract, China has been given the opportunity to enter the EU market and participate in other major infrastructure projects to be largely financed with EU funds, said Mihotic.

“We expect them to start the construction work within 70 days from the signing of the contract,” he added.

The contract on the construction of the road bridge, intended to connect the southern Adriatic peninsula of Peljesac in Dubrovnik County with the rest of Croatia’s mainland, was signed on April 23. The project, worth 2.08 billion excluding VAT (€282 million), was agreed between the Hrvatske Ceste state-owned road management company, and the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), with 85 percent of the cost financed by EU funding.

Mihotic added that China was also interested in acquiring a stake in the Port of Zadar in central Dalmatia.

“In the coming days the port will sign a co-ownership agreement with Chinese partners. The port will be a logistics point for Chinese exporters to expand their trade not only into the Croatian market, but the European market as well,” Mihotic said.

The media recently reported that a Chinese investor, the Jiangxiong Hua company, had plans to buy a stake in the Port of Zadar, and that it would initially invest 215 million (€29 million).

China is also interested in investing in the Port of Rijeka in the northern Adriatic, said Mihotic. “We have told them that a tender would soon be announced for the lease of a freight terminal at the Port of Rijeka,” he said, adding that he was confident Chinese companies would be interested.

Croatia has expressed interest in introducing a direct flight to China, which, Mihotic said, would contribute to increasing the number of Chinese tourists visiting Croatia.

“Other Central and Eastern European countries have also showed an interest in that. We would like it to happen, and we will try to see which (airline) companies might be interested,” said Mihotic.

The China-CEEC ministerial conference was held in the shadow of a looming trade war between the United States and China.

“We are concerned about a possible trade war between China and the US. We want to cooperate with both of these large markets, so we have to find a way to keep that cooperation going,” said Mihotic.

Along with the ministerial conference, Ningbo also played host to CEEC Expo 2018, at which countries from Central and Eastern Europe were presenting their products and services.

Croatian companies are presenting their products and services on the Chinese market for the fourth consecutive year, and their interest in growing every year, Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) officials have said.

Ningbo, China’s main transport hub, has a well developed system of highways, railways and air and maritime transport infrastructure, and has a strong industry. It is one of the first pilot cities in China that promote innovation, research commercialisation and the forming of small and micro-sized businesses.

By the end of 2017 the city attracted as much as $167 billion of foreign investments, but investments by local businesses are also high.

Ningbo entrepreneurs, who are encouraged to invest abroad, opened 41 companies in Central and Eastern European countries by the end of 2017, and the city has one of the highest rates of trade with CEEC countries among Chinese cities – last year it amounted to close to $3 billion.

However, its trade balance with Croatia is modest. According to official Chinese data, in 2017 trade between Ningbo and Croatia totalled $75 million, an increase of 14 percent from the previous year.

Of that amount, imports to Croatia from Ningbo totalled nearly $72 million, 9 percent up year-on-year, while exports from Croatia to Ningbo were $8 million, jumping by 90 percent from 2016.

Mihotic said that Croatia wanted to increase its exports to the Chinese market. “At the moment, the Agriculture Ministry is working to secure licences for the exports of milk and dairy products to China,” he said.

(€1 = 7.38 kuna)

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.