At the press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on February 4, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce Gao Feng introduced that the trade volume between China and the 17 Central and Eastern European countries reached 103.45 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, surpassing 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time.
He mentioned that the economic and trade cooperation mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries is becoming more and more perfect: the China-CEEC Economic and Trade Forum has been held for 9 consecutive sessions; the China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo was successfully held in Ningbo for 4 sessions, and it was upgraded to The China-CEEC Expo was successfully held .
He mentioned that Central and Eastern European countries are actively participating in the China International import Expo, and their high-quality products are continuously increasing in popularity in China.
Gao Feng introduced that since the establishment of the cooperation mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European countries in 2012, the economic and trade cooperation between my country and Central and Eastern European countries has been continuously improved and upgraded, and positive progress has been made in the fields of trade, investment, project contracting, and interconnection. The multi-level, wide-ranging, mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation situation is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
1. The economic and trade cooperation mechanism is becoming more and more perfect. China-CEEC Economic and Trade Forum has been held for 9 consecutive sessions; China-CEEC Ministerial Conference on Economic and Trade Promotion has been held 3 times; China-CEEC Investment and Trade Fair has been successfully held for 4 sessions in Ningbo, and it will be upgraded to The China-CEEC Expo was successfully held .
2. Bilateral trade exceeded US$100 billion for the first time. In 2020, China's trade volume with 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe reached 103.45 billion U.S. dollars, breaking through 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time , an increase of 8.4%, which was higher than the growth rate of China's foreign trade and China-Europe trade during the same period. Since 2012, my country's trade with 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe has grown at an average annual rate of 8%, more than three times the growth rate of my country's foreign trade, and more than twice the growth rate of China's trade with the EU. Central and Eastern European countries actively participate in the China International import Expo, and the popularity of their high-quality products in China continues to increase .
3. Investment cooperation continues to expand. As of the end of 2020, my country has accumulatively invested US$3.14 billion in direct investment in all industries in 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, involving energy, minerals, infrastructure, logistics, auto parts and other fields. During the same period, 17 Central and Eastern European countries have invested US$1.72 billion in China.
Fourth, the orderly progress of project contracting. In 2020, the value of my country's newly signed project contracts in 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe was 5.41 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 34.6%. Major projects such as the Hungary-Serbia Railway, the Pelješac Bridge in Croatia, the Serbian E763 highway, and the priority section of the Montenegro North-South Expressway are progressing smoothly.
Fifth, the interconnection is more optimized. The China-Europe Express trains are developing rapidly. In 2020, 12,400 trains will be operated. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, etc. have become important channels and destinations for China-Europe Express trains. my country has close logistics exchanges with major ports in Central and Eastern European countries, and the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line is rapidly forming.
6. Local cooperation is deepening. Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province actively promotes the construction of the 17+1 economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone, and regards Central and Eastern European countries as the key direction of expanding opening up; Cangzhou City, Hebei Province established the China-Central and Eastern European SME Cooperation Zone to promote aviation, agriculture, high-end manufacturing and other fields Cooperation; Liaoning Province is actively creating a 17+1 economic and trade cooperation demonstration zone in the coastal economic belt.
Gao Feng said that in the next step, China is willing to work with Central and Eastern European countries to gather cooperation forces, raise the level of cooperation, further release the cooperation potential, and push the 17+1 economic and trade cooperation to a new level.
(Source: China Exhibition Comprehensive Report)
