At noon of April 12, 2019 local time, after attending the 8th Summit of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) held in Dubrovnik, Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of Croatia, the host country, jointly met with the press.

Both sides spoke positively of the new progress achieved in the cooperation between China and CEEC (16+1 cooperation) and agreed that this highly efficient summit, which delivered fruitful results, was a great success. The Dubrovnik Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries was adopted at the summit, indicating the direction for future development of the 16+1 cooperation. All parties received Greece as a full member of the 16+1 cooperation, which revealed the vitality and vigor of the 16+1 cooperation.

Li Keqiang said that faced with the current complex international situation, all parties should jointly maintain multilateralism and free trade. As a cross-regional cooperation platform, the 16+1 cooperation is both an important part of and a beneficial supplement to China-Europe cooperation. A joint statement was issued in the just-concluded 21st China-European Union (EU) Leaders' Meeting, in which the two sides committed to offering a more extensive, convenient and non-discriminatory market access. All parties of the 16+1 cooperation will always uphold the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment, advance cooperation projects in an open and transparent manner and under the market-oriented principle, and comply with EU laws and rules to make positive contributions to the further development of China-CEEC and China-Europe relations.

Wang Yi and He Lifeng attended the activity.