The 7th China-CEEC (Cangzhou) SME Cooperation Forum opened in Cangzhou, Hebei province, on October 26, bringing together diplomatic envoys and government representatives from Central and Eastern European countries with representatives of business organizations from home and abroad to discuss cooperation.
Themed “Two-Way Cooperation, Shared Future”, the two-day forum is co-hosted by the Cangzhou Municipal People's Government, the Industry and Information Technology Department of Hebei Province and the China Centre for Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
At the opening ceremony, four documents were released: the “Ten Thousand Sails” AI Service Ecosystem Hebei Co-building Plan, Hebei's measures to support OPC in empowering high-quality development of industrial clusters, the CEEC cooperation layout for dry port logistics, and the “Hebei Goods Going Global” CEEC Cooperation Promotion Plan. The Cangzhou CEEC Economic and Trade Cooperation Chamber of Commerce was inaugurated, an initiative on Cangzhou's cooperation with CEEC small and medium-sized enterprises was launched, and the city's “city partners” were announced. Distinguished guests and experts delivered keynote speeches on digital transformation and manufacturing, deepening China-CEEC Cooperation and exchanges.
The forum followed a high-end, professional and international approach, tracking industrial trends and technological advances and incorporating AI, OPC and city partners as innovative elements. Beyond the opening ceremony and keynote forum, eight side events were held: a “Golden Autumn Benefits · Consumer Interaction” promotion, a China-CEEC SME Cross-Border Matchmaking Conference, a “Hebei Goods Going Global · AI Sets Sail” cooperation matchmaking conference, a matchmaking conference on the new power equipment industrial chain, a conference on integrated development of zero-carbon new energy industrial and supply chains, an international collaboration conference on the green chemical industrial chain, a Cangzhou-CEEC equipment manufacturing cooperation conference, and a series of events marking the 70th anniversary of the Sino-Czechoslovak Friendship Farm. The expanded program was designed to make the event more effective and give SMEs at home and abroad an efficient platform for practical cooperation.
The China-CEEC (Cangzhou) SME Cooperation Forum serves as a distinctive window for China's SME cooperation with those in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its launch in 2018 it has held six successful editions, becoming an international platform serving SMEs at home and abroad and injecting new vitality into China-CEEC Cooperation.