This photo taken on May 16, 2023 shows an exhibition zone of the third China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

HANGZHOU, May 21 (Xinhua) -- During the just-concluded third China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair, intent purchase orders worth more than 10.5 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) were signed, involving goods from Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), said the expo organizer on Sunday.

During the event held from May 16 to 20 in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, 62 foreign-funded projects were signed, with a total investment of 17.78 billion U.S. dollars, up 17.7 percent year on year in terms of the investment amount. Among the signed deals, 17 projects involve Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders, covering diverse fields such as high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine and digital economy.

About 5,000 varieties of goods from CEECs were on display during the expo, up 25 percent from the previous edition of the event. About 15,000 buyers and over 3,000 exhibitors participated in this year's expo, and more than 80 percent of the exhibitors from CEECs have confirmed to attend the next edition of the event, according to the organizer.

Since the founding of the China-CEECs cooperation mechanism in 2012, China and the CEECs have yielded fruitful achievements. The year 2023 marks the beginning of the second decade of China-CEEC cooperation, and the two sides are hoping for closer economic and trade ties.