On June 9, five Ningbo Overseas Communication Officers gathered at the Ningbo International Convention and Exhibition Center: they were going to find out what was so attractive about the second edition of the China-CEEC Expo and International Consumer Goods Fair.

Just a day earlier, the second China-CEEC Expo and International Consumer Goods Fair kicked off here. Themed “New Vision, Shared Opportunities”, the expo attracted more than 2,000 global exhibitors and over 6,000 Chinese buyers, as well as the five Ningbo Overseas Communication Officers.

Their first stop was the Central and Eastern Europe Exhibition, one of the three major exhibition areas set up in the Expo, the other two being the International Consumer Goods Exhibition and the Permanent Exhibition of Imported Commodities.

Located in Hall 1 of the convention center, the China-CEEC Cooperation Achievements Exhibition showcases the achievements of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries in economy, trade and infrastructure since 2012. The five eager Overseas Communication Officers learned about the development history of some well-known companies such as Huawei, ZTE, iFlytek and Alibaba. When they came to the Zhejiang Exhibition Booth, they were wowed by the province’s openness and technological innovation, as well as the successful construction of the demonstration zone promoting common prosperity.

They then came to the Central and Eastern European Commodities Exhibition in Halls 5 and 6. Hall 5 focused on high-end entertainment consumer products, such as light aircraft, RV and yachts, which the Overseas Communication Officers boarded and tried.

Apart from these high-end products, Seyedeh Sara Ahmadi Nishaboori, one of the communication officers, was invited to try the Bulgarian Damascus Rose skin care products. In the Zhejiang Digital Trade Expo held in the same hall, two other officers, Stephen Demarsh and Giovanni Battista Belleri, managed to get a glimpse of the world’s first home network camera that can measure heart rate.

In Hall 6, among the various products, Slovak glass wine ware and Polish porcelain were extremely exquisite, and the Overseas Communication Officers were able to taste the Hungarian red wine, before making a toast for the China-CEEC Expo.

China and Central and Eastern European countries are highly complementary to each other, and boast a high degree of compatibility in food and agricultural products. At Hall 8, where a host of Chinese products for export were on display, Overseas Communication Officer Peter Morgan loved specially the fresh tea from Guizhou, and the sweet preserved fruit and milk wine from Xinjiang. Products like the twelve zodiac pendants from Shanxi and the quilts and jackets from Xinjiang were popular with buyers because of their high quality.

Now, Ningbo has become the first choice for Central and Eastern Europe to trade with China, and the city will further strengthen its relationships with the region and the whole world.