On November 13, 2023, the fifth China-Central and Eastern European Countries (Cangzhou) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Cooperation Forum opened in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. Xu Xiaolan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Sinisa Mali and Polish Mazovia Province Governor Adam Struzik attended and spoke via video link, while the Ambassadors of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia to China, Sinisa Berjan and Archil Kalandia, were present on site.
Xu Xiaolan stated that SMEs are the largest group of enterprises in both China and Central and Eastern European countries, playing a crucial role in driving innovation, promoting employment, and improving people’s livelihoods. China is eager to engage in comprehensive, high-quality, multi-level exchanges and cooperation with SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe, aiming to support each other’s development and jointly advance a more stable, substantial, and extensive China-CEE cooperation. The focus is on deepening cooperation mechanisms, leveraging the role of the Cangzhou cooperation zone, and promoting in-depth integration in products, technology, branding, talent, and markets. The goal is to make the China-CEE cooperation mechanism more effective and impactful. Additionally, the forum aims to optimize the cooperation environment, strengthen policy exchanges, provide specialized services for the international development of SMEs, increase support for foreign-funded enterprises, continuously improve the business environment, and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, thus creating a stable and predictable development environment for SMEs from both sides. Efforts will also be made to enhance innovation capabilities and professional levels, strengthen experience sharing, guide quality resources towards SMEs, and support them in focusing on their core business and specialized areas. The aim is to advance the concept, technology, organizational management, and model innovation of SMEs, accelerate digital and green transformation, and promote high-quality development of SMEs in both regions.
The theme of this year’s forum is “Expanding Open Cooperation for Joint Development and Win-Win.” It was co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the People’s Government of Hebei Province at the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (Cangzhou) SME Cooperation Zone. The forum included an opening ceremony, keynote forum, SME innovation achievement exhibition, and cross-border matchmaking meetings. Representatives from relevant departments and units of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, government officials from Central and Eastern European countries, ambassadors to China, sister city representatives, local governments, domestic and international business associations, universities, research institutions, and enterprises participated in the forum.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (miit.gov.cn)
