Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with his Bulgarian counterpart Iliana Iotova in Beijing on Monday.
The Bulgarian vice president is in Beijing to attend the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women which runs from Monday to Tuesday.
Noting that Bulgaria is the second country in the world to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Han said that under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the China-Bulgaria strategic partnership has enjoyed healthy and steady development over the recent years.
Promoted by the cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the cooperation mechanism between China and the Central and Eastern European countries, the two countries have achieved fruitful results in cooperation across the board, Han said.
Han said that China attaches great importance to developing relations with Bulgaria and is willing to enhance friendly exchange with Bulgaria, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, continue to advance the bilateral relations forward, and work together to build a more just and equitable global governance system.
He also expressed the hope that Bulgaria will actively promote the healthy development of China-Europe relations.
For her part, Iotova highly appreciated President Xi Jinping's important speech at the opening ceremony of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women.
She said that Bulgaria is ready to work together with China to continuously enrich the connotation of bilateral relationship, strengthen bilateral and multilateral exchanges and cooperation, and continue to engage in Belt and Road cooperation.
Bulgaria supports enhancing dialogue and cooperation between Europe and China, she added.
Chinese vice president meets with Bulgarian counterpart
The three astronauts of China's recently-returned Shenzhou-20 mission on Friday shared the experiences of their dramatic 204-day space mission, including detailing the emergency procedures which were implemented to bring them safely home after their return capsule was struck by space debris.
The trio -- Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie -- met with the press in Beijing on Friday afternoon, marking their first public appearance since returning to Earth in November.
When detailing the emergency response mechanisms which were enacted prior to their scheduled return, the astronauts explained that upon discovering a triangular crack on the spacecraft's viewport window, they immediately took photos for documentation and transmitted them to the ground team, who swiftly activated an emergency plan to get the trio home safely.
Experienced mission commander Chen Dong explained how the crew had complete faith in their colleagues on the ground to find a solution to these unforeseen circumstances which led to their return being delayed.
"First, we must trust the ground team, who would anticipate everything and develop the safest return plan for us. Second, we must believe in ourselves; as well-trained astronauts, we have the ability to manage various unexpected failures. I believe that with the collaboration of astronauts and researchers on the ground, our space home will surely go farther, more steadily, and for a longer time," he said.
Following their extended stay in space as a result of the debris incident, the Shenzhou-20 crew spent a total 204 days in orbit, setting a new record for the longest duration by a single group of Chinese astronauts.
During their mission, they completed multiple payload operations, conducted extensive scientific experiments, and carried out four extravehicular activities.
"Our crew worked together with the ground team in unity and coordination, completing four extravehicular activities, several payload entry and exit tasks, and a large number of scientific experiments. It was a fulfilling yet challenging mission. The path to exploring the heavens is long and arduous, but I firmly believe that China's space missions will succeed," said Chen Zhongrui, a former air force pilot who was making his first spaceflight during the mission.
"From the ground to space, from learning to application, I have deeply felt the solid progress of Chinese space endeavors and the quiet dedication of countless personnel behind the scenes. In the future, I will accomplish each mission with full commitment, living up to the trust of the motherland and the people," said fellow astronaut Wang Jie, who was also making his debut spaceflight.
After returning to Earth on Nov 14, the trio successfully completed their isolation recovery and rehabilitation and will now resume normal training following health assessments.
The crew's return, originally scheduled for Nov 5, was postponed due to safety concerns, with the astronauts later using the return capsule belonging to their successor crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission to get back to Earth. China later launched the unmanned Shenzhou-22 spacecraft which will serve the future return of the crew now aboard the Tiangong Space Station.
Shenzhou-20 astronauts share experiences after safely returning from debris incident
