East China's city of Ningbo has pledged to boost trade with Central and Eastern European countries.

The efforts include an overall plan of building the city into a demonstration area for China-CEEC trade cooperation and the construction of more trade centers, science research parks and a logistics center, according to a plan released by the city government in February.

Since 2014, Ningbo has been promoting trade and economic cooperation with those countries through multiple methods.

In June 2014, the first session of the Ministerial Conference of China-CEEC on Promoting Trade and Economic Cooperation was held in Ningbo.

From 2015-18, the China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo took place in the city every year. The expo now serves as a national-level platform for economic and cultural exchanges.

The city is also home to China's first "16+1" Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone, which worked under the framework of supporting cooperation between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries.

Later, it turned into the "17+1" cooperation demonstration zone with the addition of Greece.

The demonstration zone is now regarded as a key mover in economic reform by Zhejiang province, where Ningbo is located, and a highlight project in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

Thanks to its long-term efforts and beneficial policies, the city has made great achievements in investment and trade with CEEC, according to officials.

By the end of 2019, the city had agreed 155 two-way investment projects with CEEC. As a result, the volume of investment made by the city in CEEC increased 10 times compared with that of 2014.

At present, there are 28 standing pavilions set up by 17 Central and Eastern European countries. A total of 22 measures were rolled out by Ningbo Customs to aid China-CEEC investment and trade via the"17+1" framework.

In 2019, trade volume between Ningbo and CEEC reached 28.5 billion yuan ($4 billion), an increase of 8.4 percent year-on-year.

Transport links and cultural and educational exchanges between Ningbo and CEEC have also been enhanced.

Last year, the number of 20-foot equivalent unit containers transported between the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and five major ports in the countries of Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Poland reached 652,000, up 8.8 percent year-on-year.