On the morning of November 25, 2015, Premier Li Keqiang invited the leaders of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) who were in China for the 4th Summit of China and the CEEC to take the Chinese high-speed train together.

The leaders took a 20-odd-minute ride from Suzhou North Railway Station to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, covering a distance of about 100 kilometers. This was a trip that ushered in a faster development stage for the "16+1 cooperation".

On the platform, a brand new high-speed train was waiting for Li Keqiang and the distinguished guests coming from afar. National flags of China and the 16 CEEC and slogan that reads "16+1>17" were painted on the body of the train. In the carriage, Li Keqiang and the leaders had friendly talks and discussed cooperation.

Li Keqiang said that China has a vast territory and a large population, therefore, its infrastructure construction truly bears on its people's livelihood improvement. The Chinese government highly values transportation infrastructure construction and upgrading including railways and roads. After 30-odd years' development since the reform and opening-up, China has made huge progress in this sector. High-speed train has now become one of the most convenient and fastest transportation means for Chinese people to get around and travel as well as a "golden business card" of China's equipment manufacturing. China enjoys advantageous production capacity, advanced technology, high cost-performance and global competitiveness in the transportation infrastructure field, which is a result accumulated by years of economic development, technology progress, equipment upgrading, growth of engineering and construction talents and many other factors. China now is willing to share it with countries in need, and to join efforts with the CEEC to carry out production capacity cooperation in transportation infrastructure and other areas, and to offer tailored plans and products in high-speed train designing and railway construction for the CEEC, thus promoting their industrialization process and the integration in the region.

Li Keqiang emphasized that China-CEEC cooperation is like a train which has gradually accelerated since starting its journey 3 years ago and now enters a fast track. The train is not only fast, but also comfortable and safe, and our cooperation not only is rapidly advancing, but also gives full consideration to the needs and comfort level of all sides, more importantly, it serves as a positive force pushing global development, prosperity, peace and stability.

The leaders of the 16 countries listened attentively to the information about the development of China's high-speed rail construction as well as the designing and performance of relevant equipments, appreciated that China's high-speed train is stable and comfortable, and expressed that they felt the vigorousness of China's urban development and modern construction along the way and admires the tremendous achievements scored by China's economic and social development.

Without their noticing it, the train arrived steadily at its destination-Hongqiao of Shanghai. The beautiful name of the place and the implied meaning of the wonderful journey coincide with each other. It is believed that the transportation infrastructure cooperation including high-speed rail will surely build a rainbow bridge for connectivity and production capacity cooperation as well as trade and personnel exchanges between China and the CEEC.