Ministers and their representatives from China and 16 CEE countries hold discussions on a variety of topics at the Third Ministerial Conference of China and Central and Eastern European Countries on Promoting Trade and Economic Cooperation in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on June 7. [Photo by Shui Guixian]

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 pointed out that there is huge cooperation potential in the sectors of consumption, trade, investment, infrastructure, digitalization, e-commerce, agriculture, food and tourism. He believed that with the development of 16+1 cooperation mechanism, the China-CEEC relations will be further advanced.

Officials 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.

Péter Szijjártó, minister of foreign affairs and trade in Hungary extended his hope for a fair and free international trade network considering the current global trading environment.

Ēriks Eglītis, deputy minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Latvia, the guest country of honor of this year's China-CEEC Expo, said in the future, they will endeavor to promote local quality products to China and pay more attention to the logistics industry.

Bosnia and Herzegovina held a positive attitude towards the cooperation with China in the sector of infrastructure, especially the energy related projects, according to the country's Minster of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Šarović .

Officials from both regions 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 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, "the zone is a big opportunity for Ningbo and will lift the city to a new starting point for future development."