NINGBO—Experts from China and several Central and Eastern European countries explored expanding China-CEEC cooperation at a forum in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, on June 9.

Co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, the China-CEEC high-end think tank forum focused on expanding local cooperation.

Since the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism was established, relevant local cooperation has continued to deepen, and a series of innovative measures and platforms have taken shape, said CASS Vice President Wang Linggui. This can be seen in more than 20 fields, including economy and trade, investment, tourism, education, energy, health, medicine, think tank cooperation, finance, culture, and logistics.

Wang suggested that local cooperation should be viewed from a broader perspective, to expand China-CEEC local cooperation. Various forms of local cooperation should be used flexibly and pragmatically to explore new cooperation methods and to unleash new potential.

Peng Jiaxue, secretary of the CPC Ningbo Municipal Committee, expressed his hope that experts and scholars at the forum could put forward more practical proposals based on their fields of research, to better promote economic and trade cooperation, scientific and technological innovation cooperation, and green and low-carbon environmental protection cooperation. This will help explore new paths for furthering China-CEEC cooperation under the new situation.Huo Yuzhen, special representative for cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, stated that China-CEEC cooperation is based on the actual needs of the two sides and their complementarity in development. It has laid a solid foundation for cooperation by organically integrating and promoting relations between China and Central and Eastern European countries. It has also formed a scale effect, which has been universally recognized and widely participated in by governments, local enterprises, and all sectors of society in Central and Eastern Europe.

Local cooperation is one of the most active, richest, and highest potential areas of cooperation within the China-CEEC cooperation framework, Huo said. Think tanks are an important bridge and link that connects local enterprises and societies between China and Central and Eastern European countries.

Participants conducted discussions and exchanged ideas on pragmatic topics such as China-CEEC local economic and trade cooperation, local green environmental protection cooperation, and local technological innovation cooperation. They also offered advice and suggestions for opening a new chapter in China-CEEC local cooperation.

Local cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries has achieved fruitful results, while there are still broader areas of cooperation that need to be explored. Participants believe that local cooperation can play an innovative role in the fields of the green economy, new energy, healthcare, education, and culture. Countries and cities should make use of their respective conditions and endowments to explore greater cooperation potential. In light of the complex and volatile international political and economic landscape, local cooperation also needs to consider geopolitical factors, working on risk assessment and preventive measures.