Officials from Ningbo Municipal Commission of Commerce unveil the nameplate of an administration handling CEEC affairs on Nov 28. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province announced that it's going to set up an administration to deal with the its affairs with Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) on Nov 28, the first of its kind in China.

It was introduced that the administration will employ 15 staff members and assume the responsibilities of organizing China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo, which takes place in Ningbo every year, and promote the cooperation between China and European countries, especially in the areas of investment and trade.

Zhang Yan, director of Ningbo Municipal Commission of Commerce, said Ningbo is going to further the exchanges and cooperation with CEEC by focusing on four major tasks, namely building a work team, preparing for the upcoming 4th China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo, carrying out the work on building a demonstration zone for economic and trade cooperation under the "16+1" cooperation format, and organizing other exchange activities.

Ningbo and CEEC have had a friendly relationship for a long time. In addition to a series of preferential policies for CEEC, Ningbo has set up five platforms for the bilateral ties, including an industrial park, a research institute and a logistics park.

The data from the city's commission of commerce shows that in 2016, the volume of imports and exports between Ningbo and CEEC reached $2.365 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percent. In the same year, the investment flowing from Ningbo to CEEC reached $160 million, 15 times more of that in 2015. So far, there are 42 companies in CEEC that have received investment from Ningbo capitals. Ningbo has also established friendship with 20 cities in CEEC and cooperated with them in fields such as tourism and education.

A special exhibition center in Ningbo displays over 3,000 goods from CEEC to facilitate the trade between the two sides. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]