Prague, March 19 (CTK) – Czech President Milos Zeman congratulated his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on his re-election in a wire sent on Sunday, saying he hoped that Czech-Chinese relations would further deepen, the Presidential Office has announced.
Zeman said he would like to meet Xi again.
According to Zeman, Czech-Chinese relations have intensified in the past few years. He wrote he believed that this positive development would continue in the following years. Both countries’ strategic partnership brings particular results, he added.
Zeman, who defended his presidency in the January direct election, also appreciated his friendship with Xi, established during their personal meetings.
Zeman met his Chinese counterpart during his visit to Prague in March 2016 and they also met in Beijing last year.
Xi was re-elected for another five years on Saturday.
The plenary session of the Chinese parliament recently approved an amendment to the constitution deleting the clause that limited the execution of the presidential post to two terms or ten years only.
Zeman is a keen promoter of Czech-Chinese relations.
One of his advisers is China Energy Company Limited (CEFC) board chairman Ye Jianming who was, however, reportedly arrested in China in February on suspicion of a financial crime. Neither CEFC nor the Chinese authorities have confirmed his detention officially.
Zeman’s office head Vratislav Mynar, his adviser Martin Nejedly and CEFC Chinese group European division head Jaroslav Tvrdik were in China last week to check the information about CEFC board chairman’s troubles. The Presidential Office has not yet commented on the results of their mission.
