CANGZHOU, China, Nov. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 5th China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) (Cangzhou) Small and Medium-Sized (SME) Cooperation Forum initiated on November 13th in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, announced the Cangzhou municipal government.

With the theme of "Expanding openness and cooperation for win-win development", the forum was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of PRC (MIIT) and the People's Government of Hebei Province, supported by the CEEC Secretariat and the Cangzhou Municipal People's Government.

"Since establishing the China-Central and Eastern European countries cooperation mechanism in 2012, the economic and trade cooperation between the two sides has made positive progress, with an average annual growth rate of 8.1% and a two-way investment of nearly US$ 20 billion. The economic and trade cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries has shown great vitality and strong resilience." Xu Xiaolan, Vice Minister of MIIT, addressed in her speech.

At the event site, 277 Chinese and foreign merchants from 10 countries came to look for business opportunities. The enterprises involved in automobile manufacturing, clean energy, intelligent equipment, laser industry and other fields.

"This forum is an important platform for exchanges between small and medium-sized enterprises in China and Central and Eastern European countries, which has promoted the economic development of all countries, made great contributions to the global market, and will bring more cooperation opportunities to Serbia." Sinisa Mali, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Serbia, said.

It is reported that through the previous docking negotiations, this forum has reached 109 cooperation results with a total investment of 63.636 billion yuan.

In recent years, Cangzhou has developed into a critical modern port city in North China, the new industrial city in the Circum-Bohai Sea Area and an important node city in the urban agglomerations of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province. For three consecutive years, Cangzhou has been named by Forbes China among the Top 100 Best Commercial Cities in Mainland China.

The China-CEEC (Cangzhou) SME Cooperation Forum was established in 2018, becoming China's first cooperation zone for Central and Eastern European countries. For five years, the forum has served as an essential platform for strengthening exchanges and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries.