The 7th China Central and Eastern European Countries Local Leaders Conference and 2026 Shandong International Friendship City Cooperation and Exchange Week, jointly hosted by the Shandong Provincial Government, the China Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation Secretariat, and the China Central and Eastern European Countries Local Governors Association, was successfully held from May 25th to 29th, 2026. The event gathered over 600 Chinese and foreign guests from 44 countries and 15 provinces in China to discuss cooperation plans and jointly seek development blueprints.

The theme of this event is to work together to create a better future. A series of 23 activities, including the opening ceremony, local leaders' dialogue, provincial and prefectural high-level dialogue, high-quality development promotion, and enterprise docking and negotiation, will be organized to comprehensively broaden the cooperation dimensions between Shandong and Central and Eastern European countries, as well as international friendly cities, and promote mutual benefit and coordinated development in a wider range of fields and at a higher level.

The opening ceremony of the event had a grand lineup, with political leaders and guests from North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and other countries attending and delivering speeches. On site synchronous activities such as friend interviews and achievement releases will be carried out to showcase the fruitful achievements and development opportunities of China Central and Eastern European local cooperation and Shandong International Friendship City cooperation, helping Shandong to continuously expand its channels of opening up to the outside world and enhance its level of opening up to the outside world.

Deeply cultivate and pragmatically broaden fields

The China Central and Eastern European Countries Local Leaders Dialogue has completed the revision of the Charter of the China Central and Eastern European Countries Local Governors Association and officially released the Jinan Consensus, effectively promoting the iteration, upgrading, quality and efficiency improvement of the China Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation Mechanism. The high-level dialogue between provincial governors focuses on the theme of green and low-carbon, symbiotic win-win, and jointly building high-quality development partnerships. Representatives of local governments at home and abroad share their experience in green development and consolidate consensus on deep cooperation in the field of green and low-carbon.

The event closely follows the core orientation of economic and foreign affairs, and showcases Shandong's development advantages and cooperation opportunities in all aspects through a comprehensive promotion conference for high-quality development, enhancing mutual trust and understanding between domestic and foreign parties, and promoting cooperation opportunities. At the same time, we have established a platform for enterprise docking and negotiation, organized precise docking with more than 100 domestic and foreign enterprises in the fields of new energy, digital economy, and medical and health care, and implemented multiple practical cooperation achievements. In addition, through activities such as the annual meeting of the Modern Agriculture Science and Education Innovation Alliance and the dialogue on the integration of science, education, industry, and talent cultivation, we aim to deepen the deep cooperation between the two sides in the entire chain of agriculture, science and technology, industry, and talent.

This event is accompanied by a visit to Shandong's economy, trade, and culture. Foreign guests have visited multiple cities in Shandong, including Jinan, Zibo, and Jining. Each region combines its own unique advantages to hold special promotion events, economic and trade docking, industrial exchanges and other characteristic activities, realizing provincial and municipal linkage, resource sharing, further narrowing the emotional distance between Chinese and foreign people, and building a strong bond of people to people communication. During the event, there will also be real-life displays of good products and characteristic agricultural machinery from sister cities, showcasing Shandong's advanced manufacturing strength and profound cultural heritage through physical displays, on-site interactions, and other forms. Simultaneously holding a special concert for the Friendship City Night, using culture as a bridge to promote mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations and people's hearts.

New chapter in the spectrum of open cooperation

This series of grand events presents distinctive characteristics of high-end, diversified, pragmatic, and collaborative, effectively deepening exchanges between China and foreign countries, smoothing cooperation channels, and empowering industries for win-win outcomes. Based on this event, Shandong has established new friendly and cooperative relationships with countries such as Belarus, Greece, Togo, and Uzbekistan. Currently, the province has 93 pairs of friendly provinces and states, 681 pairs of friendly cities, covering 109 countries worldwide. At the same time, we successfully carried out commemorative activities for Shandong's sister cities with Australia and the United States, and landed key cooperation projects such as the China Greece Smart Green Agriculture Joint Laboratory. Keywords: Opening up to the outside world, Central and Eastern European cooperation, Shandong

This event serves as a comprehensive service for the overall diplomacy of the country and the development of local opening-up to the outside world, achieving deep synergy between political diplomacy, pragmatic cooperation, and cultural exchanges. It is a high-level opening-up event with fruitful results, outstanding highlights, and wide influence, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of Shandong's all-round opening-up to the outside world.Editor/Gong Ziwei