Croatia and China have good and friendly relations without outstanding issues, but economic cooperation still has not reached a satisfactory level, Croatian President Stjepan Mesić said on Friday during talks with Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Huo Jianmin.
President Mesić said that even though Croatian exports to China had nearly doubled, the deficit on the Croatian side was still too high. In a past few years, Croatia had linked its ports and borders with highways, and that the transit of goods from China to Europe takes five days less than by the Northern European route, which, as Croatian President pointed out, provides big possibilities for the development of economic relations. President Mesia also emphasized the need to liberalise the visa regime. Chinese Deputy PM Jianmin conveyed greetings from Chinese President Hu Jintao, stressing that China appreciated President Mesić's contribution to the development of Croatian-Chinese relations. 
Chinese official agreed with President Mesić's assessment of bilateral relations, thanked him for the analysis of the situation in the region, and underlined that Beijing appreciated Croatia's positions in international politics, notably on sticking to the One-China policy principle, as well as Croatia's policy of good neighbourliness and regional stability.
Deputy PM Jianmin congratulated Croatia on being elected nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council.
As the Chinese official pointed out, Croatia and China had a very similar position on Kosovo. He also conveyed Beijing's opinion that a solution satisfactory to both Serbia and Kosovo could be arrived at only through negotiations.
President Mesić voiced hope that his Chinese counterpart would make a stop in Croatia during his European tour, while Jianmin said he was confident President Mesić would visit Beijing during the Olympics.