The new Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Sofia, Kong Lingyu, visited the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and spoke with President Tsvetan Simeonov. Mr. Kong shared that this is the first meeting with a Bulgarian institution since his arrival in Bulgaria. Simeonov acquainted the guest with the Chamber’s work at the international and national level. He presented information on the current state of the Bulgarian economy, which is in a period of recovery from the effects of the pandemic and has to deal with the challenges of the nearby military conflict in Ukraine. The President of BCCI stressed that in the last few years many economic opportunities have been missed, including investment projects between Bulgaria and China.
Representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Sofia, who also took part in the meeting, confirmed that despite the difficulties, bilateral trade is developing in a positive direction. According to information from the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, in the first half of 2021 bilateral trade reached USD 1804.6 million (registering a growth of 35.2% on an annual basis), of which Bulgarian exports to China amounted to USD 683.4 million (+40.3%) and imports from China amounted to USD 1,121.2 million (+ 32.2%).
The Economic and Commercial Counsellor of China expressed the desire for the Embassy and BCCI to cooperate in order to balance bilateral trade.
Simeonov discussed with the guests opportunities to promote economic and investment ties between companies from Bulgaria and China.