On 3 May 2022, the Head of the Economic Relations, Trade and Development Cooperation Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Coordinator of Latvia for cooperation between the Central and Eastern European Countries and China, Juris Štālmeistars, met with the Special Representative of China for Cooperation between Central and Eastern European Countries and China, Huo Yuzhen.
During the meeting, Juris Štālmeistars presented an outline of current political developments that constitute the context of cooperation between Latvia and China. While stressing that Latvia condemned Russia’s full-scale unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine, Juris Štālmeistars called on China as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to use more leverage in order to stop Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The Head of Directorate reaffirmed Latvia’s unwavering support for the “One China” principle, which underpins the diplomatic relations between Latvia and China.
The conversation addressed possibilities for further bilateral dialogue between Latvia and China as well as cooperation in the EU–China format and that between the Central and Eastern European Countries and China. There are plans to organise political consultations between Latvia and China and the next meeting of the Latvia–China Joint Committee to address, among other matters, the issues of bilateral trade with a view to reducing Latvia’s trade deficit with China. In a discussion on practical cooperation in the areas such as transport, logistics and agriculture, Juris Štālmeistars called on China to continue with facilitating the advancement of concrete projects.
The Head of Directorate drew attention to Latvia’s concerns about economic coercion against Lithuania, which affected the internal market of the European Union as a whole, including Latvia. He called for reaching a solution in the near future, including through consultations in the framework of the World Trade Organisation.