I.Bilateral Political Relations

The diplomatic relations betweenChinaandBulgariawere established onOct 4, 1949. In 1950s, the relations of the two countries went on well. In 1960s, the bilateral contacts were on the decrease. Ever since 1980, the bilateral relations have seen a steady progress whereas the contacts and cooperation in all fields of the two countries have been gradually enhanced. Since the establishment of their diplomatic relations, the main bilateral state visits have been conducted as follows:

1. Major visits toBulgaria:

Vice-Premier DONG BIWU (Sep 1954); member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress PENG ZHEN (Jan 1957); Member of the Political Bureau of the Central committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Vice-President of the State DONG BIWU (May 1958); Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Vice-Premier of the State Council and the Secretary of Defense PENG DEHUAI (May 1959);State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Economic Relation & Trade CHEN MUHUA (Jun 1984); Vice-Premier LI PENG (Dec 1985);Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee LIAO HANSHENG (Sep 1986);State Councilor and foreign minister WU XUEQIAN (Mar 1987);Acting General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier ZHAO ZIYANG (Jun 1987);Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference WANG ENMAO (Sep 1987);State Councilor and Chairman of the National Science and Technology Committee SONG JIAN (May 1988); Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress PENG PEIYUN (Aug 1998);Permanent Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Secretary of the Secretariat QIAO SHI (Nov 1989);State Councilor and Foreign Minister QIAN QICHEN (Mar 1991); Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister QIAN QICHEN (Mar 1991, Apr 1995);Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress LI PEIYAO (Oct 1995);Vice-Premier LI LANQING (Nov 1996);Premier of the State Council ZHU RONGJI (Jun 2000);Chairman of the People's Consultative Conference LI RUIHUAN (May 2002),State Councilor WANG ZHONGYU (Jun 2002); State Councilor WU YI (July 2002).

2. Main Visits toChina:

Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Vice-Chairman of the Minister Conference DAMYANOV (Sep 1954); Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Chairman of the Minister Conference ANTON YUGOV (Sep 1957); Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian communist Party, Vice-Chairman of the Minister Conference CHERVENKOV (Sep 1958); Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Chairman of the National Congress DIMITER GANEV(Sep 1959);Chairman of the National Congress STANKO TODOROV (Nov 1985); The first Vice-Chairman of the Ministry Conference of Bulgaria ANDREY LUKANOV (Oct 1986);Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Chairman of the State Council TODOR ZHIVKOV (May 1987);Foreign Minister of Bulgaria PETAR MLADANOV (Nov 1989); Vice-Premier of Bulgaria and Minister of Communications NEICHO NEEV (Jun 1993);Chairman of the National Congress ALEXANDER YORDANOV (Nov 1993);Vice-Premier and Minister of Education and Science NIKOLAY VASSILEV (Apr 1992);Premier ZHAN VIDENOV (May 1996);Speaker BLAGOVEST SENDOV(Jul 1996);Minister of Defense DIMITAR PAVLOV (Oct 1996);President PETAR STOYANOV(May 1998);Speaker YORDAN SOKOLOV (May 1999); Foreign Minister NADEZHDA MIHAILOVA (Jun 1999);Vice-Speaker, Vice-Chairman of the European Left Wing Party PETIA SHOPOVA (Jun 1999);Chief Procurator NIKOLA PHILCHEV(Mar 2000);Foreign Minister SOLOMON PASSY (Apr 2002);Vice-Premier and Minister of Economy NIKOLAY VASSILEV (Apr 2002); Speaker OGNIAN GERDJIKOV (Dec 2002).

II.Bilateral economic and trade relations

In 1952, the first Trade Agreement was signed between the two governments ofChinaandBulgaria. In between 1960s-1970s, the bilateral trade volume dropped dramatically. By the end of 1980s, the bilateral trade relations saw rapid development. The two countries signed the agreement of encouraging and protecting investment and the agreement of avoiding double taxation. In 1985, a cooperation committee of economic, trade, science and technology was founded between the two governments. There have been nine regular meetings held till now.

In recent years, the trade volume of the two countries has registered an annual increase. The trade volume went up to US$94.3 million in the year 2000. The trade volume jumped to US$1.18 billion in the year 2001, an increase of 24.6% compared with the same period of the previous year; the trade volume went up to US$1.19 billion in the year 2002, an increase of 1.33% compared with the same period of the previous year.

III.Bilateral exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, science & technology and education:

1. Cultural cooperation

"Agreement of Cultural Cooperation Between the Government of P. R. ofChinaand the Government of P. R. ofBulgaria" was signed by the two governments twice, respectively in 1952, and in 1987. Based on the above signed agreement, a series of annual cooperation plans concerning culture, science and education have been signed.

2. Cooperation in science and technology

In 1955, the two countries signed the agreement of the first 5-year cooperation in the fields of science and technology, afterwards a committee of science and technology cooperation between the two governments was set up. One after another, nine regular meetings have been held in total. The cooperation in the fields of science and technology involves agriculture, ecology, animal husbandry, environment protection, machinery manufacture, new materials and energy etc..

3. Educational cooperation

In 1984, the cooperation in education betweenChinaandBulgariawas resumed, and exchange of students began between the two countries. In Oct 1986, "Agreement of Direct Cooperation of Higher Education (1987-1991)" was signed by the two countries. This agreement includes the details as the following: exchange of delegations annually; supporting and encouraging contacts inter-universities and mutual visits of experts; exchange of students and teachers of language & literature; exchange of teaching materials and relevant data; participation in short term language training session of the other party, etc.. This agreement has been renewed till the end of 2003. In June 1990, the two countries signed the agreement on mutual recognition of the diploma, the degree and the certificate. At present, 10 students and 2 Chinese teachers have been sent toBulgariaby the Chinese government. There are total 52 students studying inChinafromBulgaria, and 1 expert of Bulgarian language teaching in Beijing Foreign Language Institute.

IV.Major bilateral agreements and documents

"The Joint Statement Between P.R. ofChinaand P.R. ofBulgaria" (May 1996)

"The Joint Statement Between P.R. ofChinaand P.R. ofBulgaria" (May 1998)