Ningbo's China-CEEC expo elevated to national level

Visitors check out Poland's booth at the fourth China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo in 2018. [Photo/zj.zjol.com] 

The China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo, an annual exposition between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) held in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, was recently approved by the central government as a national-level exposition. Its name was subsequently changed to the China-CEEC National Investment and Trade Expo.

The first China-CEEC national expo will be held in Ningbo from June 8 to 12 and will be hosted by the Zhejiang provincial government and Ministry of Commerce. 

With its new national status, this year's event will surpass that of previous years in overall scale. Party members as well as provincial, municipal, and country leaders, along with government leaders of CEEC, will attend the expo, according to the commerce bureau of Ningbo.

Initiated in 2015, the China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo opened a new chapter in China-CEEC bilateral trade, and Ningbo is quickly becoming the preferred channel for goods from CEEC to enter the domestic market.

Foreigners study the wine exhibited at the fourth China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo in 2018. [Photo/zj.zjol.com] 

Statistics show that Ningbo reached nearly $3.7 billion in trade with CEEC last year for a year-on-year growth rate of 26.6 percent. That's 5.6 percent higher than the national growth rate in trade with CEEC and 2.7 percent higher than the Zhejiang rate. Ningbo's trade with CEEC accounted for 4.5 percent of the nation's total, compared with 4.3 percent a year earlier. 

The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port realized cargo throughput of 334,200 twenty-equivalent units with major ports in CEEC last year, up 16.5 percent year on year.

In terms of investment, Ningbo has had 135 cooperation projects with CEEC to date, more than any other city in the nation, with the China-Czech (Ningbo) Cooperative Industrial Park and the CEEC Trade Logistics Park both being established in the city. 

In addition, Ningbo has established friendly ties with 21 cities in CEEC, with more than 500 students from both sides having conducted exchanges and 10,000 passengers having travelled between the regions.