China-CEEC cooperation bears fruit, Xi says

Xi also underlined the significance for China and CEE countries of stepping up cooperation in science, technology and innovation, as he urged efforts to widen cooperation on the digital economy, e-commerce and health.

Meeting participants said that CEEC-China cooperation, as an important transregional cooperation mechanism, has promoted infrastructure construction as well as economic and social development in CEE countries.

This conforms to the common interests of all parties and also expanded cooperation between Europe and China, achieving win-win results, they said.

Participants expressed CEE countries' willingness to continue this cooperation, saying that they will work with China to fight the pandemic, promote economic recovery, uphold multilateralism and jointly address global challenges of various kinds.

A plan for China-CEEC cooperation in 2021 and a list of results from the China-CEEC Summit was issued after the meeting.

Vice-Foreign Minister Qin Gang told reporters later on Tuesday that the summit was of the highest level of its kind, demonstrating that China highly values the cooperation.

According to Qin, nearly 90 deals on practical cooperation with a total value of $13 billion were reached during the summit, hitting a record for China-CEEC cooperation. They involve such areas as transportation, infrastructure, finance, agriculture and science and technology.

"The deals reflected the specific needs and expectations of CEE countries," Qin said.