25 May (BNS) - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Deputy Speaker of the Chinese Parliament Jianmin Hua underlined that relations between Estonia and China are very good.
Ansip has been on visits to China on three occasions, twice as head of government and once as mayor of Tartu. "I have enjoyed every minute of my stays in China," Ansip said. Jianmin Hua is in Estonia for the second time.
Ansip and Hua stated that economic relations between China and Estonia have great potential, which was also confirmed by close economic relations between entrepreneurs.
Last year China was in 16th place among Estonia's trade partners. Last year China passed Germany and became the world's biggest exporter.
China recognized the independence of Estonia on  Sep-tember 7, 1991, and the two countries established diplomatic relations on  September 11, that year during a visit to Tallinn of Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Tian Zeng-pei. In 2011, 20 years will pass since the establishment of diplomatic relations bet-ween Estonia and China. In the near future Estonia will open consulate in Shanghai and the building of the Estonian Embassy in Beijing will begin soon.