China-CEEC cooperation opening doors

This aerial photo taken on July 10, 2023 shows OOCL PIRAEUS, one of the largest container vessels in the world, about to dock at Piraeus Port in Piraeus, Greece. [Photo/Xinhua]

In 2008, as the global financial crisis unfolded, Greece suffered some of the worst fallout. Piraeus Port, the largest seaport in the country, reported a loss of 13 million euros ($15 million), with outdated facilities, scarce vessel calls and frequent dockworker strikes dragging its operations into a deep crisis.

During this challenging period, when investors worldwide deemed Greece too risky, a Chinese company stepped forward. China COSCO Shipping secured a concession to operate two of Piraeus' container terminals. Eight years later, in 2016, COSCO acquired a majority stake in the port, officially taking over its management and operations.

By bringing in expertise, investment and machinery, the Chinese company successfully breathed new life into the port. Far from replacing local staff, it created thousands of jobs for Greeks. Today, after years of restructuring, Piraeus stands as one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean.

Charalampos Aravantinos-Simonetos, a youth coordinator for international and European affairs in Greece's Syriza party, shared the story of solidarity and cooperation with a roomful of young political leaders from China and Central and Eastern European countries, or CEECs, in June during a forum held in Wuhan, Hubei province.

The Chinese approach, he said, stands in stark contrast to those countries that invest solely for their own benefit and show little concern for local communities. The project has helped strengthen bilateral ties and allowed both sides to benefit through economic cooperation, he added.

According to Piraeus' financial report, the port achieved record total revenue of 251 million euros in 2025, up 8.6 percent year-on-year.

The turnaround of Piraeus Port, far from an isolated story, is a microcosm of the cooperation synergy between China and Central and Eastern European countries under the China-CEEC Cooperation mechanism.

Launched in 2012, the mechanism is a trans-regional platform jointly initiated by both sides. Over the past 14 years, the parties have remained committed to the principles of equality, mutual benefit in cooperation, openness and inclusiveness against the backdrop of a fluid international landscape.

Today, it has grown into a full-fledged mechanism, with deepening cooperation and a series of outcomes delivering tangible benefits to various parties.

In Croatia, the Chinese-built Peljesac Bridge has reduced a three-hour detour to just a few minutes' drive. In Serbia, Chinese investment has revived a century-old steel plant from the brink of closure. In Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, thousands of citizens commute every day on buses manufactured by Chinese company Yutong Bus.

Such projects have "greatly facilitated local travel and daily commutes, injected robust momentum into industrialization and urbanization, and constantly improved people's well-being", said Xiang Yuanzheng, an official with the Chinese Commerce Ministry's European Department.

Over the years, bilateral cooperation has moved beyond traditional fields such as mining and logistics into emerging sectors. Contemporary Amperex Technology and other Chinese battery makers have set up plants in Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, while Slovenian pharmaceutical company Krka Group has launched a joint venture with Ningbo Menovo Pharmaceutical in East China's Zhejiang province.

From 2012 to 2025, trade between China and the CEECs registered an average annual growth rate of over 8 percent, hitting a record high of 1.09 trillion yuan ($161.5 billion) in 2025. In the first half of this year, two-way trade volume reached 580.1 billion yuan, up 11 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

For Petre Danci, a Romanian who studied at Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing from 2011 to 2018, China's modernization drive delivers inclusive benefits to other countries, an approach he believes is underpinned by the country's deep-rooted commitment to openness, mutual benefit and shared progress.

Citing the four great inventions of ancient China — papermaking, printing, the compass and gunpowder — Danci said that none of these transformative innovations changed the world by staying inside China. "They changed the world because they moved, because they were shared, because people who never met the inventors gained access to the tools and used them to build something entirely new," he said.

During his years in China, Danci witnessed the country's modernization drive firsthand, epitomized by the rise of China's "new four great inventions" — high-speed rail, mobile payments, bike-sharing and e-commerce.

"China does not just invent things; it deploys them at scale, and the results speak for themselves," he said, adding that such technological advancement "is changing the lives of hundreds of millions of people in real time" not just in China, but also in other countries.

Drawing a parallel between past and present, Danci noted that just as ancient inventions connected the world through trade routes and shared knowledge, nations today are connected through people-to-people and technological exchanges across borders. "The cooperation between China and CEECs is a clear example of this connection," he said.

Across the Eurasian region, this deepening connection has taken tangible shape. Irena Lukajic Korica, an adviser to the Office of the Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said her country is among the top recipients of Chinese-backed infrastructure and energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe, with the total value of these projects reaching nearly 2 billion euros.

Noting that China's remarkable pace of development — transforming itself into one of the world's leading economies within just a few decades — has won widespread recognition in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Korica said young people in her country embrace the joint pursuit of modernization of China and the CEECs as opportunities for mutual learning, cooperation and shared development.

"They believe deeper cooperation can unlock new prospects in areas such as digital transformation, green energy, scientific research, tourism, cultural exchange and entrepreneurship," she said.

"Young people across my country are interested in the educational opportunities that China offers," she added, noting that for them, "China is no longer a distant country, but a place where they can study, gain experience and better understand a different culture and development model."

Michal Bartek, a member of the Slovak Parliament and deputy governor of Slovakia's Trencin region, said that every time he visits China, he brings back something unique.

"China is really inspirational for us," he said. "You have achieved remarkable progress in national development, and I hope to introduce valuable experience to my region."

Contact the writers at jihaisheng@chinadaily.com.cn