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                China Signs Partnership Deal With Czech Republic

   by Associated Press

   Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a strategic partnership during his
   visit to the Czech Republic on Tuesday, a sign of improving relations
   with a country that once was a critic of China's human rights record.

   Xi, who was greeted with a rare 21 salvos of artillery at the Prague
   Castle, the seat of the presidency, signed the document Tuesday
   together with his host, President Milos Zeman.

   He said through an interpreter it "sets a political direction for the
   development of our relations in the future."

   Xi's visit - his only stopover in Europe before flying to the U.S. - is
   a result of a more business-oriented Czech approach to China than the
   one that prevailed under the late President Vaclav Havel, a prominent
   proponent of human rights.

   Unlike him, Zeman was the only European Union leader to attend China's
   celebrations of the end of World War II last year and said he hoped his
   country becomes "an entry gate" for China to the European Union.

   He said business deals to be signed during Xi's visit could bring some
   95 billion koruna ($3.9 billion) of Chinese investment this year.
   Details were expected to be announced Wednesday.

   Xi also backed a series of other deals on cooperation in health,
   transport, IT, sciences, tourism, banking and other fields as well a
   partnership deal between the countries' capitals.

   He was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the speakers
   of both chambers of Parliament and Prague's mayor later Tuesday.

   Not everyone was happy with his visit.

   Several supporters of the Falun Gong group that has been banned in
   China were in the streets of Prague on Tuesday morning, while others
   waving Tibetan flags were gathering to protest China's human rights
   record near a palace where Xi was meeting the Czech leaders.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/china-czech-republic/3259449.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/china-czech-republic/3259449.html