BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhua) -- As the 4th China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo opened in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang Province on June 8, a wide variety of activities aiming at strengthening ties between China and the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) are being staged in the coastal city.
According to a news conference on June 6, this year’s China-CEEC Expo, along with the 20th China Zhejiang Investment & Trade Symposium and the 17th China International Consumer Goods Fair, have four sections, namely conferences and forums, investment symposiums, trading exhibitions and cultural exchanges to strengthen trading and economic ties between the two regions.
Yan Weiguo, executive deputy director of the expo’s organizing committee, said that the 4th expo will be more internationalized with an increasing number of officials, global companies and associations taking part in it.
“Ningbo is striving to build a significant platform for the city to serve the Belt and Road Initiative, advance the high-level opening-up, and promote quality development,” Yan concluded.
On Thursday morning, the Third Ministerial Conference of China and Central and Eastern European Countries on Promoting Trade and Economic Cooperation took place in Ningbo, adding much luster to the opening day of the event.
China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying, announced that four main results have been achieved at this year’s ministerial conference – a cooperation initiative on e-commerce, a cooperation initiative on trade in services, a communication mechanism for officials from both regions, and the official inauguration of the 16+1 Economic and Trade Demonstration Zone.
Fu believed that with the development of 16+1 cooperation mechanism, the China-CEEC relations will be further advanced.
Ministers from Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia and Bulgaria also expressed their confidence in the sustainable and forward-looking ties and outlined their plans from different perspectives.
Officials from China and CEEC jointly unveiled the nameplate of the 16+1 Economic and Trade Demonstration Zone after the ministerial conference. It is the first demonstration zone in China featuring in relations with CEEC.
“The construction of the 16+1 Economic and Trade Demonstration Zone in Ningbo is a result of the city’s hosting of China-CEEC Expo sessions in recent years,” said Yan, adding that the zone offers huge opportunities for Ningbo and will lift the city to a new starting level for future development. (Edited by Zhang Yuan, zhangyuan11@xinhua.org)
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