Sun Yinglai, Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Latvia, addresses a ceremony to launch the China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-commerce Hub in Riga, Latvia, on May 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Janis)

RIGA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-commerce Hub was launched in a ceremony at the Baltic Container Terminal in the Latvian capital city Riga on Monday.

Around a hundred people, including lawmakers, government officials, entrepreneurs and media representatives, attended the ceremony organized by the Chinese Embassy in Latvia, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and the Central and Eastern Europe E-Commerce Hub Development Association.

Addressing the ceremony at the terminal in the Freeport of Riga, Sun Yinglai, Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy, indicated that e-commerce could become one of the keys to deepening cooperation between China and Latvia.

"Through cross-border e-commerce platforms, products from Latvia and other Central and Eastern European countries are made quickly and directly accessible to the Chinese market and consumers," Sun said.

Andris Ozols, head of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, voiced confidence that the new e-commerce hub will be promoting business exchange between China and Latvia, and with trade turnover growing, more and more Chinese investors consider Latvia as a good place for doing business as they regard Latvia as a springboard for trade with Scandinavia, Germany and Russia.

Emphasizing that China is Latvia's largest trade partner in Asia, the Latvian Economics Ministry' State Secretary Eriks Eglitis called the launch of the new cross-border e-commerce hub a "rewarding moment" and also noted deepening political relations between the two countries.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Latvian Investment and Development Agency and Ningbo Municipal Government on the development of the China (Ningbo)-Latvia Cross-border E-Commerce Hub in April this year.