A seminar for local cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEEC) was held in Jinan, Shandong province on April 16.

Chen Xu, executive secretary of China-CEEC and director of the European Department of Foreign Affairs, and Wang Zhonglin, mayor of Jinan, attended the opening ceremony of the meeting and delivered speeches.

Wang Zhonglin, mayor of Jinan, attends the opening ceremony of China-CEEC seminar in Jinan, Shandong province on April 16. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

More than 200 people were present at the meeting, including commercial counselors and ambassadors of central and eastern European countries to China, observer delegates from Belarus, Greece, Austria, the European Union, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as domestic and overseas company representatives.

Some of the attendees at the seminar for China-CEEC local cooperation in Jinan, Shandong province on April 16. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China-CEEC, also known as "16+1 cooperation", is a new platform jointly established by China and 16 other countries in 2102. Those other counties are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Belarus, Greece, Austria, the European Union, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development attended as observers.

The seminar, first held in Jinan, will provide strong power for the city's development as "Modern Spring City" and its prioritization of new growth drivers over old ones; it will also offer strong support for the city's further integration into the Belt and Road Initiative and accelerate its urban internationalization.