On September 9, the 2026 China-CEEC Conference on Innovation Cooperation opened in Ningbo. As the highest-level event in the field of scientific and technological innovation under the framework of China-CEEC cooperation, the conference, themed “A Decade of Innovation, Building the Future Together,” released the “2026 China (Cities)-CEEC Open Innovation Cooperation Index” and the “10-Year Report on China-CEEC Innovation Cooperation” and launched the second China-CEEC Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and unveiled a new vision for future-oriented innovation cooperation.
The year 2026 marks a critical juncture in China-CEEC innovation cooperation, a key milestone after a decade of sustained effort. “China’s high-level scientific and technological output continues to grow, not only spawning new industries but also making life more colorful,” said Grigoris Zarotiadis, a professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. For Central and Eastern European countries, he noted, this means enormous opportunities for cooperation and development.
On the opening day of the conference, 11 agreements on industry-university-research institute collaboration and joint platform development were signed at a signing ceremony. These included hard-tech projects such as collaborative research on functional new materials and a joint laboratory for dynamics and vibration control, as well as cross-border science and technology innovation service platform projects aimed at promoting talent exchange and fostering high-quality participants, highlighting the immense potential of China-CEEC innovation cooperation.
The vibrant cooperation is underpinned by in-depth economic and trade exchanges. In 2025, imports and exports between China and Central and Eastern European countries exceeded one trillion yuan. As the scale of foreign investment and trade has grown, it has become common practice for Zhejiang enterprises, universities and research institutes to join hands with their CEE counterparts in building innovation platforms. Ningbo, a major industrial city, has made deepening scientific and technological innovation cooperation with CEE countries a key path to enhancing its innovation capacity, and has been approved for more than 20 intergovernmental exchange projects with CEE countries from the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Innovation cooperation must focus on the right fields. Reporters learned at the conference that new industries such as artificial intelligence and robotics, new energy, and the bioeconomy are becoming hot areas for science and technology innovation cooperation between China and CEE countries, with the number of cross-border patent applications in related fields rising year by year.
Professor Zhou Mingjiong’s team at Ningbo University, together with Croatian universities and research institutes,has carried out joint research on new energy battery materials and other areas, and have made a series of encouraging progress. “Central and Eastern European countries have deep expertise in related disciplines and an urgent demand for the new energy industry, and this field happens to be our strength,” Zhou Mingjiong said in an interview, expressing the hope that through the in-depth implementation of industry-university-research projects, the industrialization of innovation achievements globally can be accelerated.
High-level cooperation cannot be achieved without platform support. At the “CEEC Innovation China Tour” event, innovation projects from more than ten CEE countries were showcased at a roadshow, and Zhejiang Enfang New Material Technology Co., Ltd. also brought its original graphene antibacterial additive to seek partners. “Our product has passed testing against authoritative standards, with an antibacterial rate of over 99%, and is expected to become a catalyst for the innovation and upgrading of the global fashion industry,” a person in charge of the company said.
To address the challenges of long project cycles and large investments in science and technology innovation projects, Ningbo has actively engaged with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to promote the joint establishment of the “China (Ningbo)-CEEC Joint Fund for Innovation Cooperation.” Since 2024, the Ningbo “Sci-Tech Innovation Yongjiang 2035” Key R&D Program has approved and supported more than 20 international scientific and technological cooperation projects targeting CEE countries.
Innovation cooperation is becoming a new engine driving China-CEEC cooperation. In 2025, Ningbo’s import and export trade volume with CEE countries reached 58.85 billion yuan, hitting a new record.