BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, on Sunday began a four-nation tour to Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia.

    The visit is of vital importance for China's key diplomatic activities this year. It is aimed at strengthening high level exchanges between China and the four European countries, promoting China's bilateral ties with those countries, and boosting the sustained and sound development of Sino-Europe relations.

    Following is a brief introduction to Romania and its bilateral relations with China.

    Located on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe, Romania is bound by the Black Sea and Moldova to the east, Bulgaria to the south, Hungary to the west as well as Ukraine to the north and northeast. It has an area of 237,500 square km.

    Romania has a continental climate characterized by cold snowy winters and warm summers. In the capital city of Bucharest the average temperature ranges from 2 minus degrees Celsius in winter to 21 degrees Celsius in summer

    The Romanians, the leading ethnic majority in the nation, account for 88 percent of the 22-million population. The remainder are some small ethnic groups, including Gypsies, Magyars, Germans, Ukrainians, Tartars, Jews, Croats, Russians, Bulgarians and Serbs.

    The official language is Romanian which is spoken by most of the population while Hungarian and German are also widely understood.

    China and Romania established diplomatic relations on Oct. 5, 1949, and exchanged ambassadors in March 1950. At the 26th UN General Assembly in October 1971, Romania, as one of the co-sponsors, voted in favor of the resolution calling for the restoration of all the legitimate rights of People's Republic of China in the United Nations.

    In the early 1970s, Romania contributed a great deal to the improvement of Sino-U.S. relations. For a long time, China and Romania have maintained close ties of friendship and cooperation. These bilateral ties have continued to grow after the big changes in Romania since 1989.

    Economic and technological cooperation between the two countries has witnessed further growth in recent years. In 2006 bilateral trade volume reached 6.31 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 280 percent over the same period of previous year. In January 2008 alone, China's export to and import from Romania exceeded 206 million dollars.

    Besides, the two countries have maintained close cooperation in cultural, scientific and technological fields.