On September 20, 2007, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Quan met in the office building of the Foreign Ministry with a joint press delegation from five central and eastern European countries including Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Hungary.

During the meeting, Kong spoke positively of China's bilateral ties with these five countries, saying that recent years have witnessed frequent high-level visits, deepening political trust, and fruitful pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade and other areas between both sides. The Chinese government attaches great importance to developing ties with the five countries and is ready to continue to explore new ways and expand new areas for cooperation so as to push bilateral ties for new progress. He expressed hope that the members of the delegation will learn more about China through this visit and brief their people about China and its willingness to deepen friendly cooperation with central and eastern European countries in a bid to build mutual understanding and trust.

Hailing the enormous achievements made in China's reform and opening up, the journalists said the current visit helps them gain a better understanding of the country and pledged to offer comprehensive reports on China to their people.

The 14-member delegation is visiting China at the invitation of the Information Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Besides Beijing, it will also visit Gansu and Guangdong.