RIGA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-commerce Hub was launched in a ceremony at the Baltic Container Terminal here in the Latvian capital on Monday.
Around a hundred people, including lawmakers, government officials, entrepreneurs and media representatives, attended the ceremony organized by the Chinese Embassy in Riga, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and the Central and Eastern Europe E-Commerce Hub Development Association.
Addressing the ceremony at the terminal in the Freeport of Riga, Sun Yinglai, Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Latvia, indicated that e-commerce could become one of the keys to deepening cooperation between China and Latvia.
"Through cross-border e-commerce platforms, products from Latvia and other Central and Eastern European countries are made quickly and directly accessible to the Chinese market and consumers," said Sun.
Andris Ozols, head of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, voiced confidence that the new e-commerce hub will be promoting business exchange between China and Latvia, and with trade turnover growing, more and more Chinese investors would see Latvia as a good place for doing business as they regard Latvia as a springboard for trade with Scandinavia, Germany and Russia.
Noting that China is Latvia's largest trade partner in Asia, Eriks Eglitis, state secretary at the Latvian Ministry of Economics, called the launch of the new cross-border e-commerce hub a "rewarding moment".
He also voiced hope that the annual trade turnover between China and Latvia, which currently is 640 million euros, will soon grow to a billion euros and beyond.
On April 12, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and Ningbo Municipal Government on the development of the China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-Commerce Hub.
It was signed during the 9th Business Forum of Central and Eastern Europe countries and China in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
