The 2018 China (Ningbo)-CEEC Tourism Cooperation Conference takes place in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on June 7. [Photo by Qin Jirong/chinadaily.com.cn]

More than 500 people from China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries sought exchanges and cooperation in the tourism industry at the 2018 China (Ningbo)-CEEC Tourism Cooperation Conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on June 7.

The conference, focusing on the tourism sector, was part of the 2018 China-CEEC Trade and Investment Expo.

The attendees included officials from China and 10 CEE countries, as well as travel agencies from around the world. They shared insights on the development of tourism, and promoted face-to-face matchmaking at the event.

Ingus Rozenblats, China representative of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, the guest country of honor of this year's China-CEEC Expo, gave a detailed introduction about his country's tourist resources.

Representatives from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria also promoted their countries to Chinese tourism insiders, hoping to create a better understanding of travel in CEE countries.

As a result of previous negotiations and discussions, a group of cooperation agreements were signed between Chinese travel agencies and their CEE counterparts at the conference.

Ningbo, the host city of the China-CEEC Expo sessions, leads the country in strengthening tourism ties with CEE countries, as explained by Chen Zhongchao, vice-mayor of the city.

In 2017, Ningbo's travel agencies helped around 274,000 local tourists visit European countries, a year-on-year increase of 14.85 percent, according to an official.

Chen pledged that with the deepening of the 16+1 cooperation mechanism, Ningbo will regard tourism as a new driver of closer ties between China and CEE countries, and will work to enhance the level of exchanges and cooperation in this sector by launching more direct flights, releasing more preferential policies and organizing more exchange activities.

Ingus Rozenblats, China representative of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, give an all-round introduction of his country's tourist resources at the 2018 China (Ningbo)-CEEC Tourism Cooperation Conference in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on June 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]