Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov conferred on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, which he has described as the most important meeting on the sidelines of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly.

During the meeting, Wen said China and Bulgaria have traditional friendship, and that bilateral ties have weathered various tests and are now faced with new opportunities for development.

"Both sides should further expand contacts and communication at all levels, enhance mutual trust and consolidate the political basis of bilateral ties," Wen said, as cited by Xinhua agency.

China is ready to work with Bulgaria to promote a balanced and stable growth of bilateral trade, expand cross investment, and strengthen exchanges and communication in various fields including culture, education and tourism, Wen said.

For his part, Borisov said Sino-Bulgarian ties are a good model of friendly relations between countries of different social systems.

"Bulgaria would like to deepen bilateral substantial cooperation with China in the fields of trade, finance, environment protection, tourism and infrastructure construction, and lift bilateral ties to a new height," Borisov said.

The Bulgarian prime minister has repeatedly underscored the importance of the meeting because of the expectations for attracting Chinese investments, which should help Bulgaria with its economic and financial situation at a time when the EU is considering imposing severe sanctions on those member states whose budget deficits exceed the 3% threshold set by the Stability and Growth Pact.

In the past four months, the Bulgarian government has been increasingly active in attracting Chinese state and private investors for the future large-scale industrial zone at Bozhurishte near Sofia.

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