BLED, Slovenia - The 2nd High-Level Symposium of Think Tanks of China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries was held on Wednesday with the delegates from 17 countries on future cooperation.

Addressing the symposium, former Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan said peace, development and cooperation are mainstream ideology of contemporary international society.

Despite the long geographical distance between them, the Chinese and CEE economies could complement each other.

In terms of promoting bilateral relations and realizing win-win strategy, China and CEE countries are highly uniform and natural partners, Tang said, adding that closer relationship and cooperation between China and European countries must be on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

He called for exploring new ways and new fields in such international cooperation so as to make early harvest that are visible and touchable.

In response, former Slovenian president Danilo Turk also attached great importance to international cooperation, and expected to beef up mutual understanding and exchanges between CEE countries and China.

He praised Ljubljana-based Confucius Institute for its positive role in promoting cultural exchanges between Slovenia and China.

Igor Sencar, foreign ministry state secretary of Slovenia, spoke highly of Slovenia-China cooperation, noting that China has made a successful investment in the production of electric buses in Maribor, while cooperation between Slovenian and Chinese high-tech companies is also producing results.

The senior diplomat expected tourism will be an important opportunity for cooperation in the future.