On August 17, 2005, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip met in his office with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Ansip said that his memory of last visit to China two years ago is still fresh and he was deeply impressed by the rapid growth, and the long history and culture of China. He said that Estonia-China relations are developing smoothly and the cooperation in various areas is dynamic. He believed that bilateral relations would achieve greater progress in the future. Ansip hoped that China could further expand the economic and trade cooperation with Estonia by exploring the advantages of Estonia as a relay port of the European Union (EU).

Li said that the friendly cooperation between China and Estonia has made substantive progress and China is confident in the development prospect of bilateral relations. He said that China would keep supporting and encouraging the cooperation between the enterprises, expand mutual investment, strengthen the exchange and cooperation in such fields as culture, education and tourism, and deepen the cooperation within China-EU framework and in international organizations including the United Nations (UN). Li pointed out that China is a reliable friend of Estonia no matter in the field of bilateral cooperation, China-EU cooperation or within the multilateral framework.

On the same day, Li also held talks with Estonian Foreign Minster Ulmas Paet and exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations as well as international and regional issues of common concern.

Li arrived in Tallinn on August 16 and kicked off his two-day official visit to Estonia, which is the first stop of his European tour. After concluding his visit to Estonia on August 17, he will visit Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Cyprus.