President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) Luka Burilovic underscored that not only is China the second largest global economy but also the greatest trade power in the world and despite the huge difference in size, there are a lot of sectors that Croatia can count on for cooperation.
Trade between the two countries last year amounted to US$656 million, while Croatian exports to China accounted for just US$ 77 million and that has to be improved. That is why the HGK plans to open a representation in Shanghai later this year so that a billion dollars in trade is achieved in a very short time, Burilovic said.
An agreement on cooperation between the HGK and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), which was signed during the forum, should facilitate cooperation between entrepreneurs.
Referring to sectors in which cooperation between Croatian and Chinese entrepreneurs could be most likely, Burilovic highlighted the food industry, saying that Chinese entrepreneurs had, for exam,ple already inspected the range of Croatian wines.
"It is difficult to speak about sufficient quantities, but we can promote quality and the Croatian food industry has that," Burilovic stressed.
There is great potential in tourism which has already reached double-digit figures in growth. Last year almost 88,000 Chinese tourists visited Croatia, which was an increase of 44%, compared to 2014 and they generated 130,000 overnight stays, a growth of 45%.
Vice President of CCPIT Wang Jinzhen said that Croatia is China's second most important trade partner among the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Today's forum, he added, is an opportunity to expand cooperation within the China plus 16 cooperation mechanism, that is trade between china and 16 countries in central and eastern Europe.