Ministers and their representatives from China and 16 CEE countries gather in Ningbo, Zhejiang province at the Third Ministerial Conference of China and Central and Eastern European Countries on Promoting Trade and Economic Cooperation on June 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As the 2018 China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo opened in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on June 7, a wide variety of activities aiming to strengthen 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.

During the event, a series of parallel activities such as the China-CEEC Mayors of Cities Summit and the China-CEEC Investment and Cooperation Symposium will be held to strengthen trading and economic ties between the two regions.

Yan Weiguo, executive deputy director of the expo's organizing committee, said that this year, the China-CEEC Expo will be more internationalized with an increased number of officials, global companies and associations that have confirmed to take part. "We received notifications from over 12,000 people from around 70 countries and regions that they will attend."

The exhibition area is expanded to 8,000 square meters this year to accommodate 310 booths for specialties from CEEC, according to authorities.

"Ningbo is striving to build a significant platform for the city to develop the Belt and Road Initiative, advance the high-level opening-up of the city and promote quality development," Yan concluded.

On Thursday morning, a highlight of the expo - 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.

Government representatives from China and CEEC conducted wide and in-depth discussions on trade, investment, infrastructure, finance, production capacity, e-commerce, and small and medium-sized companies.