Mr. Sobotka also paid a visit to the research and development centre of Huawei and to the production plant of Shanghai Volkswagen, which manufactures the famous Škoda automobiles. His next stop was in beautiful Suzhou, where he attended the 16+1 Summit with other Prime Ministers from Central and Eastern Europe and China.

In Beijing the Czech Prime Minister met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. In the presence of the Chinese President and the Czech Prime Minister, both countries signed a Memorandum about Czech participation on the development of new Silk Road – also known as One Belt One Road.

The Czech Premier also met with the Major of Beijing and the Governor of Hebei Province. He led an interesting debate with students at the prestigious Beijing University, where he also delivered a speech in front of a large audience. During his visit to China, the Prime Minister was accompanied by a business delegation representing dozens of Czech companies from various sectors.

During the official visit, 31 documents were signed in different areas of cooperation. Among the interesting was a memorandum about Czech participation in helping prepare the Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022 or an agreement about the cooperation of the Czech and Chinese Football Associations. Further strengthening of cooperation was also achieved in the health sector (for example in traditional Chinese medicine, spa therapy treatments for children and common work in developing cancer medication).