Bulgaria and China have signed an intergovernmental agreement on mutual exemption of visa requirement for holders of diplomatic and service passports.

The deal will allow Chinese holders of Schengen visas to enter Bulgaria, the Bulgarian National television has informed.

"For Bulgaria, the partnership with the People's Republic of China is crucial, I would say not only for the region of Asia but also on many global issues on which we have more enhanced dialogue," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov declared upon signing the agreement on Monday.

Bulgaria and China have shown a big interest to further their bilateral cooperation in the fields of engineering industry, agriculture and infrastructure, said Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Guo Yezhou.

According to the Chinese Ambassador, the political dialogue, trade and economic relations, mutual investment and personal exchanges and contacts between China and Bulgaria are currently developing very well.

In February, Bulgaria formally launched of mass production of cars under the Chinese Great Wall badge by Litex Motors near the northern city of Lovech.

With the opening of its new plant in Bulgaria, Great Wall Motors becomes the first Chinese automaker to assemble cars in the European Union.

In November 2011, China's Tianjin State Farms Agribusiness Group Company invested a total of EUR 10 M in the lease of agricultural land in Northwestern Bulgaria, the poorest EU region.