The summit will be an opportunity for the first meeting between Milanovic and other CEE leaders with China's new PM, Li Kuquang, who recently announced comprehensive reforms to put the second largest economy in the world be at the vanguard of future growth.
About 1,000 business people from the private, public and state sectors will attend a trade forum to be held alongside the summit.
Milanovic will be accompanied by Croatian Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic.
China is Croatia's seventh largest trade partner and the leading one outside Europe, accounting for 4.6 per cent of Croatia's foreign trade. Last year, Croatia-China trade amounted to US$ 1.5 billion, of which $49 million were Croatian exports and $1.45 billion were imports from China.
Croatian Chamber of Commerce experts are worried about the structure of Croatia's exports and imports, given that Croatia mostly exports raw materials to China, while importing nearly only high technology goods.
Three Chinese companies have their branches in Croatia - Lenovo Technology, Huwei, and ZTE Hrvatska - but no Chinese investment has been made in Croatia. Of the Croatian companies with branches in China, only the Uniline tourism company has its own branch there, while Koncar and Badel 1862 have branches as joint companies with Chinese partners.
Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic recently visited China and Chinese companies expressed interest in investing in the Croatian ports Ploce, Rijeka and Vukovar, a railroad between Hungary and Croatia, the Peljesac bridge, and in hydro and thermal power plants.
China has repeatedly stated that political relations with Croatia are excellent, regretting that economic relations markedly lag behind.
China started building stronger relations with CEE after the European Union's enlargement to Central Europe in 2004 and to the Balkans in 2007 to strengthen its economic presence in the region.
China is working on a $10 billion credit line for bilateral projects with CEE countries, mainly in infrastructure, high technology and the green economy.
Serbia was recently mentioned in Beijing as the first strategic partner in the region, receiving a $5 million grant at a summit in Poland last year. The Bucharest summit is an opportunity for Croatia, Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Slovakia to cooperate with China.
China's investment in CEE countries exceeds $800 million, while their direct investment in China stands at $1.7 billion.