RIGA -- A SANY ship-to-shore container crane was inaugurated in a ceremony at the Freeport of Riga on Tuesday in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Latvia Liang Jianquan.

The ceremony was attended by Freeport of Riga CEO Ansis Zeltins, Baltic Container Terminal CEO Gerard Sammut, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Latvia Shen Xiaokai, and Deng Haijun, representative of the chairman of SANY Europe GmbH.

In his speech at the ceremony, Ambassador Liang welcomed the launch of the SANY ship-to-shore container crane at the Baltic Container Terminal and emphasized that SANY -- China's leading heavy equipment manufacturer -- is highly reputed for its high-quality products and excellent service.

The ambassador indicated that economic and trade relations between China and Latvia have been steadily strengthening in recent years and that thanks to its convenient geographical location, Latvia serves as a transit point in Central and Eastern Europe.

China is willing to actively support the CEEC-China Secretariat on Logistics Cooperation in playing the coordinating role of transit and logistics, and make Latvia a transit and logistics hub in Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), the ambassador said.

Speaking on behalf of Latvian Transport Minister Talis Linkaits, Zeltins said that SANY's high-end container equipment has significantly increased the capacity of the Baltic Container Terminal, making it the biggest specialized container terminal in the Baltics.

Zeltins praised SANY's customer-centered service concept and expressed the willingness to further strengthen cooperation with SANY in the future. He said that the Baltic Container Terminal will actively participate in the "Belt and Road" construction and work with the Chinese side to jointly promote the development of the Freeport of Riga as a regional transit and logistics hub.

Baltic Container Terminal is the largest container terminal in the Baltic states, handling 300,000 TEUs a year.

Since the establishment of the partnership between the Baltic Container Terminal and SANY Group in 2012, the parties have boosted cooperation on the supply of container reach stackers and container cranes to 12 million euros. The purchase of the 5.7 million euro ship-to-shore container crane from SANY Group will significantly increase the capacity of the Baltic Container Terminal and its ability to service large vessels. (1 euro = $1.18)