BEIJING -- China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, given the typically complementary features of respective economies, boast enormous potential of cooperation concerning such sectors as new and high-technology, services and agriculture.
Currently, China and CEE nations are in different stages in terms of economic development and as the Belt and Road Initiative is pushed forward, a large number of business chances will surface, say researchers.
-- Huge cooperation potential eyed
CEE countries are an important market along the Belt and Road as they link with Asia and are seeking diversified cooperation partners while China, as the largest and most active market in Asia, is being paid close attention to by them.
CEE countries include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
In 2015, trade between China and the 16 CEE countries valued 56.2 billion US dollars, down 6.6 percent from 2014, according to statistics with China's Ministry of Commerce. Meanwhile, Chinese companies invested over five billion US dollars in these countries, from whom investment into China exceeded 1.2 billion US dollars in 2015. What's more, some infrastructure construction programs such as bridges, expressways, power plants and Sino-Europe cargo trains have been put into operation or are being actively worked on.
Slowing trade growth could not hide the fact that China and CEE countries boasted great cooperation potential, Ma Junchi, assistant researcher of central and eastern Europe research office of the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told media.
Attributing slowdown of bilateral trade mainly to the sluggish global economy and overcapacity in China as well as appreciation of Chinese currency - yuan, Ma is still optimistic about the two sides' cooperation potential in investment and trade sectors.
-- Digging new business opportunities urged
CEE countries generally have small population but their high economic development level and living standards mean robust effective demand, which will largely improve the quality of economic and trade cooperation between China and CEE nations.
There are at least three fields, in which China and CEE countries can deepen cooperation, namely, new and high-technology, services and agriculture, hold analysts.
In new and high-technology field, machinery manufacturing is an advantageous industry of CEE countries and cooperation of the two sides in this sector can facilitate China's economic structural reform.
Another field of bright cooperation potential between China and CEE countries is service sector. CEE connects Asia and Europe, and can be crafted into one of the logistics channels for the Belt and Road, good for deeper cooperation in logistics field. China and CEE countries also see vast room for cooperation in other service sectors such as finance and tourism.
Besides, agriculture is generally a highly developed industry in CEE countries and China and CEE countries can strengthen cooperation in characteristic farm produce and agricultural technology.
To boost trade with China, Ma suggested that CEE countries could crank up efforts to beat drum for their quality and characteristic products such as wine and chocolate and expand the mid- and high-end consumption market in China.
For investment in CEE countries, China can adjust investment strategy and pour more efforts into green field investment and parks and zones construction to enhance bilateral cooperation.
In a word, the key to cooperation between China and CEE countries is to look for cooperation that can give full display to respective advantages and satisfy demand of both sides, stresses Ma.
Chinese localities and enterprises are thus advised to cooperate with CEE countries in accordance with their own circumstances, say analysts, adding that east China'sNingbo promoting cooperation with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in CEE countries and Chinese construction equipment manufacturer - Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. sharpening its competitiveness in the world via acquiring HSW construction equipment division and its distribution subsidiary are both successful examples.
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