Vice Minister Qu Dongyu met with Mr. Rolandas Tara?kevi?ius, Vice Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, in Beijing on 22 Sept. 2017. The two sides conducted in-depth exchange of views on deepening bilateral and multilateral agricultural cooperation.　

Vice Minister Qu welcomed Rolandas Tara?kevi?ius for his participation in the 15th China International Agricultural Trade Fair (CATF) and wished success for the Lithuanian delegation. Vice Minister Qu spoke highly of Lithuania's long-term efforts in participating in and promoting agricultural cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) and congratulated Lithuania on winning the bid to host the Meeting of China-CEEC Ministers of Agriculture and a series of side events in 2018. Vice Minister Qu noted that with joint efforts of all parties, China-CEECs cooperation (the “16 + 1” cooperation) in agriculture has yielded fruitful results over the past decade with constantly improved mechanism, emerging as a new model for regional cooperation. China attaches great importance to the "16 + 1" cooperation and will fully support Lithuania in hosting the event in 2018.

Mr. Rolandas Tara?kevi?ius thanked China for its strong support and briefed about the preparation for the event. He stated that Lithuania has benefited a lot from the "16 +1" cooperation in agriculture and is willing to advance it.