Full coverage: Belt and Road Initiative

Companies from central and eastern European countries are developing businesses in China under the One Belt, One Road strategy. An ongoing five-day trade fair attracted more than 200 companies hoping to negotiate with potential Chinese partners.

Companies from central and eastern European countries are developing businesses in China under the One Belt, One Road strategy. An ongoing five-day trade fair attracted more than 200 companies hoping to negotiate with potential Chinese partners.

Making a mark in China. This businessman is from a Polish company. He began to develop links with the Chinese market two years ago. His coffee products are already being sold in supermarkets in Shanghai, but now he is focusing his attention on online platforms.

"Having another online platforms we can create special deals, special promotions. I hope that if he is good enough. But it's our goals to have a strong online platform with JD. com or Tmall or others, this is the way forward, and we are very much looking forward to it," said Maciej Skarbonkiewicz, from Polish Rene Food & Drink Company, Shanghai.

The Polish company has already registered a sub-branch in Shanghai. If negotiations go well, this man from a local online retailer in Ningbo might be his business partner.

" He introduced me to some coffee and alcohol products. We'll go and do some research on them, and come back to talk about prices tomorrow. We used to sell products from America, England and Germany. This time it's a chance to develop links with some central and eastern European countries," said Pan Chongchong, from Zhengzheng E-commerce Company, Ningbo.

This meeting is an opportunity for Chinese and European companies to have B2B talks, as a sideline to the trade promotion expo. It's the third time that China has hosted such an expo, seeking to establish deeper business cooperation under its One Belt, One Road framework.

Ningbo city alone imported over 10 billion US dollars worth of products last year.

Over 260 companies from 16 central and east European countries are showcasing their products at this expo. China's imports of daily necessitates, food and beverage are growing very fast. Officials are expecting a faster growth for these items, after the expo.