During an official visit to Europe, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic Wednesday in Croatia’s capital Zagreb in advance of the so-called “16+1” summit, where he plans to hold talks with 16 Central and Eastern European Countries.

Li and his delegation will visit Croatia’s seaside city Dubrovnik Friday along with representatives of 11 eastern European Union member states and five Balkan countries. The group, known as 16+1, was set up to expand cooperation between China and the 16 countries through the Belt and Road initiative.

Premier Li is the first Chinese premier to visit Croatia since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. Li and his delegation also met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic in Zagreb and signed multiple bilateral cooperation and trade deals.

One of the agreements was on cooperation between Croatia’s state bureau for digitalization and the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, according to Strait Times.

During the opening ceremony for the China-Croatia Year of Culture and Tourism, the premier also expressed hope that direct flights between the two countries can be opened when conditions are ripe.