Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis met here Friday with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing separately on bilateral ties.

    Vike-Freiberga said during the meeting that relations between China and Latvia have been developing fast since her visit to China last year.

    She said that Latvia values the friendly ties with China and is willing to strengthen their cooperation in fields such as trade, transportation and culture.  The president also praised China's role in solving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

    Kalvitis told Li that since Latvia is a fast-growing country inthe European Union, and China is a fast-growing country in the world, there is much room for bilateral economic cooperation.

    For his part, Li expressed his appreciation for the contributions made by President Vike-Freiberga and Prime Minister kalvitis in promoting Sino-Latvia relations.

    He said Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vike-Freiberga had agreed on developing bilateral ties and work has been underway between Chinese and Latvian sectors to this effect.