According to the construction plan, Ningbo aims to use the demonstration zone as the first choice for CEEC products to enter China, the first choice for bidirectional investment cooperation between China and the CEEC, and the first choice for cultural exchanges between China and the CEEC. 

The "16+1" cooperation between China and the CEEC started in 2012 in Warsaw, and later expanded to multiple sectors. From 2014 to 2017, China's import and export trade with the CEEC increased from 7.55 percent to 8.73 percent. In 2017, the import-export volume between China and the CEEC exceeded US$68 billion. 

According to Ningbo Customs statistics, in 2017, the import and export volume between Ningbo and the CEEC reached 19.79 billion yuan (US$3.09 billion), an increase of 26.8 percent year on year. 

Agnese Stūrmane from the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia said, “China has a broad market and a sound foundation for online sales like cross-border e-commerce, and the CEEC looks forward to their trade and investment with China.” She was one of the representatives of the Guest Country of Honor for the fourth China-CEEC Investment and Trade Expo convened in Ningbo from June 7 to 11. 

In addition to the ministerial meetings, symposiums, and expos, dozens of other events including a China-CEEC Mayors Forum and other events for cooperation in specific fields like customs, education, and tourism were also held during these few days in Ningbo, yielding fruitful results. 

A commitment to foreign trade and investment 

Antonio Scialletti, CEO of Italian consultancy company GEA International Ltd., came to Ningbo and attended the 20th Zhejiang provincial investment and trade symposium on June 7. Having been in China for eight years and with a subsidiary in Shanghai, he has long been advising Italian companies to come to China. 

Scialletti said when advising Italian industrial companies to move to China, Zhejiang, including Ningbo, is without a doubt, one of the best locations. 

"Ningbo has a very good investment environment, because the city has many seaports, and for goods from Europe, it serves as a door to the inside of China," Scialletti said, adding that he feels very positive about the future investment. 

Since Ningbo introduced its first foreign-invested project in 1980, the city saw its actual use of foreign investment reach US$1.44 billion by 1991. By the end of 2017, the figure had surpassed US$50 billion, and the cumulative overseas investment of Ningbo exceeded US$10 billion; the import and export trade volume of Ningbo in 2017 reached US$120.6 billion. 

The economic aggregate of Ningbo increased from 2 billion yuan to 984.7 billion yuan during the forty years of reform and opening up. In 2017, the cargo output of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port exceeded 1 billion tons, ranking the first in the world; the container throughput of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port ranked fourth in the world. So far, Ningbo has developed trade relations with over 200 countries and regions in the world and is becoming an international hub for the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". 

In the next three years, the city will strive to realize an actual use of foreign investment of up to US$13.5 billion, said Zheng Shanjie, Party secretary of Ningbo Municipal Government, highlighting choosing Ningbo is choosing success for the future. 

This is also what Nodland hopes to accomplish. "I will continue to be committed to promoting Ningbo as the preferred destination for foreign investment, as well as the preferred city to live in," Nodland said.

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