On June 13, a report was published on the front page of Zhejiang Daily, according to which many fruits have been yielded in the first China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair, and the 21st China Zhejiang Investment & Trade Symposium. The whole text is as follows.

On June 12, the first China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair, and the 21st China Zhejiang Investment & Trade Symposium were concluded in Ningbo.

Themed “Deepening Opening up and Cooperation for Mutual Benefits”, the Expo has played an active role in enabling Zhejiang Province to better serve the BRI construction, foster new advantages for opening up to the world and enhance regional development competitiveness by holding around 20 important activities such as China-CEEC Cooperation Forum under four segments, i.e., conferences and forums, economic and trade negotiations, trade exhibitions, cultural exchange and more than 30 meetings between leaders and Chinese and foreign guests.

According to data, 25,000 guests and businesspeople from nearly 60 countries and regions have gathered in Ningbo and nearly 82,000 person-times have entered exhibition pavilions for visiting or negotiating during the event.

A total of 68 two-way investment projects have been signed with a total investment of 19.4 billion USD (equivalent to 134.0 billion yuan). The projects are mainly from 21 countries and regions such as Indonesia, Singapore, Germany, Japan, the UK, the US and Hong Kong China, which cover such fields as smart manufacturing, auto accessories, equipment manufacturing, digital data, mining and health care.

Trade exhibitions have achieved prominent and pragmatic results. The Expo this year has witnessed the signing of intentions of transactions worth 296 million USD. 525 enterprises from 17 CEECs, Germany, Russia and other countries have set exhibition booths in the CEEC National Image Exhibition and European Commodity Exhibition, which have attracted 4,412 purchasers for negotiations and procurement.

The conferences and forums have achieved a wide influence. For six years since the Belt and Road Initiative was released by the Belt and Road Development Promotion Conference, Zhejiang Province has promoted a total of 56 construction achievements, including the release of Maritime Silk Road Index, “16+1” trade index and Ningbo Port index and the construction of the BRI Dubai Station.

Interesting cultural exchange events were also held. The cultural exchange program “A Taste of Zhejiang and CEEC” was held in Ningbo with a theme of “Picturesque Zhejiang & Delicious Zhejiang Cuisines”. Chefs and cooks from over 10 CEECs and 11 prefecture-level cities of Zhejiang showed their cooking techniques on the same stage, attracting huge crowds to taste the delicacies.

(Executive Editor: Yongliu He)