Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries is moving full steam ahead amid the global fight against COVID-19 and economic recovery efforts.

The move is perceived as a boon to the partnership between China and the European Union that formed at the inception of the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism in 2012.

The 17 participants of China-CEEC cooperation include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Iraq, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, the United Nations, Serbia, and Slovenia.

China's trade with CEE countries has grown at an average of 8 percent annually over the past nine years, three times the growth rate of China's overall foreign trade and twice the growth rate of trade between China and the European Union over the same period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Total trade between China and the 17 Central and Eastern European countries increased 8.4 percent year-on-year to $103.45 billion in 2020, exceeding $100 billion for the first time. Its growth was faster than the overall growth of China's foreign trade and of China’s trade with the European Union over the same period, said Gao Feng, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, at a recent news conference in February.

Statistics showed that from January to October of last year, the top three commodities exported from China to CEE countries were electromechanical and mechanical appliances, textiles and raw materials, and miscellaneous products, which accounted for 50.75 percent, 10.48 percent, and 7.64 percent, respectively, up 12.32 percent, 6.99 percent, and 0.16 percent year-on-year.

The top three commodities imported by China from CEE countries were electromechanical and mechanical appliances, transportation equipment, and base metals and products, which accounted for 34.09 percent, 27.98 percent, and 9.70 percent, respectively.

China and CEE countries have achieved all-round, multilevel and wide-ranging multidimensional and win-win cooperation.

To date, the China-CEEC Economic and Trade Forum has been held nine times, and the Ministerial Conference of China-CEEC on Promoting Trade and Economic Cooperation has been held three times. Meanwhile, the China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo took place in Ningbo, East China’s Zhejiang province every year from 2015 to 2018, and the expo was upgraded to the China-CEEC Expo in June 2019.

The "17+1" cooperation platform has successfully integrated the resources of its participants. After nine years of development, it has become a multidimensional platform for cooperation that promotes the economic development of CEE countries and European integration.

In addition, China and Europe have actively expanded international logistics channels in recent years to facilitate bilateral trade.

One area highlighted in China-CEEC relations is the China-Europe Railway Express, which saw a record number of freight shipments passing through Central and Eastern Europe to Western Europe last year, with Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Slovakia serving as important routes and destinations.

Meanwhile, many CEE countries were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign trade last year. However, since the second half of last year, China has been successful in its fight against the pandemic, and its economic development has stabilized and improved, leading to the recovery of trade with Central and Eastern Europe.

Cooperation between China and CEE countries in the fight against the pandemic has strengthened public support for the deepening of "17+1 cooperation", as China took the lead in realizing economic growth last year.

According to a report released by Moody's in January, after 2021, the economic growth of CEE countries is expected to be stronger than most euro zone countries despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although still suffering from the pandemic, the economies of CEE countries are currently on the path to recovery.

Negotiations on the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment were completed as scheduled, and the EU-Chinese agreement on geographical indications was signed as well. Experts said that the two agreements will provide institutional guarantees for China and CEE countries to expand opening-up and achieve effective cooperation.

As the COVID-19 epidemic shows signs of slowing down, China-CEEC cooperation will be further promoted.