Zeman seals second spell as president

China Daily | Updated: 2018-01-29 08:00

Xi congratulates re-elected Czech leader, hails growth of partnership

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday extended congratulations to Milos Zeman on his re-election as Czech president.

In his congratulatory message, Xi said that the Czech Republic was among the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China and bilateral ties have witnessed vibrant development and reaped bumper harvests in recent years.

"I attach great importance to the growth of Sino-Czech relations and am willing to continue joint efforts with you to lift bilateral strategic partnership to a higher level so as to better benefit the two countries and two peoples," said the Chinese president.

Zeman defeated Jiri Drahos in a runoff of the Czech presidential election on Saturday, gaining 54.8 percent of the ballots.

He was first elected to the presidency in 2013.

Czech TV pegged turnout for round two at 66.6 percent, the highest figure since parliamentary elections in 1998.

Liu Yunshan, a senior official of the Communist Party of China, paid an official goodwill visit to the Czech Republic in July, with both sides pledging to further explore cooperation opportunities within the frameworks of the Belt and Road Initiative and the "16+1 mechanism".

Liu said Xi and Zeman have reached a lot of strategic agreement on bilateral ties, thus giving the direction for the development of relations between the countries.

Since Xi's visit in 2016, China and the Czech Republic have established a strategic partnership, with mutual political trust increasingly growing stronger, and cooperation booming in various fields.

Zeman said the Czech side attaches great importance to developing bilateral relations with China, and is willing to become China's close partner as well as the gate for China's cooperation with Europe.

The China-CEE 16+1 mechanism is a platform created in April 2012 by China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries.

'Last victory'

Speaking to supporters after claiming victory, Zeman said he would continue traveling the country to meet citizens and hear their worries.

"This is my last political victory, there will be no political defeats," he told the crowd.

The Kremlin also offered its congratulations in a statement, saying that "Vladimir Putin emphasized Russia's appreciation for Mr. Zeman's stance favoring friendly Russian-Czech relations".

Voter Daniel Hajek said he had chosen Zeman "because he's opening the door to economic cooperation with countries like Russia and China.

"It's important for us, for jobs; our country is at the heart of Europe but we can't go in just one direction," he said in Prague.

Europe's fifth biggest carmaker is dependent on auto exports, mainly to the eurozone, and its economy is expected to expand by 3.4 percent this year.

Xinhua - Reuters - Afp