NINGBO, May 22 -- With over 8,000 featured products on display, from traditional goods like wines and cheese to cutting-edge varieties like VR glasses, the 4th China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair unveiled its curtain on Thursday, unleashing vast cooperation potential between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC).

The expo, running from Thursday to Sunday in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, has attracted 435 enterprises from 14 CEEC countries and nine other countries, including the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

A total of 1,028 domestic companies are also attending the event, showcasing local distinctive industries and competitive consumer goods. The event also attracts more than 3,000 overseas buyers from 72 countries and regions. Tentative import deals worth over 10 billion yuan (about 1.39 billion U.S. dollars) are expected to be reached with CEEC partners during the event, according to the organizers.

In addition to traditional consumer goods, the expo also showcases vanguard digital and intelligent technologies, serving as a broad platform for presenting innovative breakthroughs in categories such as aircraft, VR devices, medical equipment and humanoid robots.

"The expo is a gateway for our products to reach international markets, and we plan to establish headquarters in CEEC to further explore and expand our presence in the region," said Fan Rui, founder of Aoxue Ruishi Technology Co., Ltd., who brought his company's extended reality (XR) glasses to the event.

Co-hosted by the Zhejiang provincial government and China's Ministry of Commerce, the expo, initiated in 2019, has played an important role in increasing exports of CEEC products to the Chinese market, and cementing mutual understanding on cooperation between China and CEEC countries.

Data from China's commerce ministry showed that in 2024, China's trade with CEEC increased by 6.3 percent year over year, reaching a record high of 142.3 billion U.S. dollars.