Mission, Vision and Goals
In 2012, China addressed the countries of Central and Eastern Europe with a proposal for regional cooperation in the Initiative. Central and Eastern Europe (as an abbreviation – CEE) is a group of countries located in Central, Southeastern, Northern and Eastern Europe.
The cooperation between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China to promote business and investment relations between China and the CEE countries. In 2014, a Memorandum was signed in Bucharest to establish an Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries. APACCCEEC was established at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria, pursuant to Art. 60 of the Law on the Administration of the Republic of Bulgaria, as a legal entity – a secondary budget administrator under the Minister of Agriculture.
The APACCCEEC’s operation is formed by a subsidy from the Republican budget of the Republic of Bulgaria through the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria, own-source revenues and donations. China and the CEE countries do not pay membership fees or other fees to the APACCCEEC.
On November 24, 2017 was opened the first “Logistics Hub and Pavilion for Agricultural and other Products” in Trakia Economic Zone, Plovdiv City, Bulgaria.
The “Demonstration Zone of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEE Countries” was officially opened on February 21, 2019 in the Agricultural University in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The Demonstration Zone is part of a project, which was officially launched during the 7th Summit of Heads of Governments of China and CEE Countries in July 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria by the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
On May 22, 2025, APACCCEEC inaugurated a new Permanent Pavilion showcasing products from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries and a new APACCCEEC Liaison Office in a more popular location in Ningbo, China. In a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Atanas Zafirov, Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria Dr. Georgi Tahov, Ambassador Jian Yu, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for China-Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation, and Deputy Mayor of Ningbo Mr. Xu Qian symbolically inaugurated the new Liaison Office and Permanent Pavilion of APACCCEEC. The Permanent Pavilion serves as an exhibition center for food products, beverages, and cosmetics from CEE countries. Currently, the Pavilion features product samples from companies across 11 countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. These include producers of: organic and health foods, cosmetics and rose products, essential oils, sunflower seeds, snacks, vegetable oils, confectionery, canned foods (fruits and spreads), honey and other bee products, protein bars, oak barrels, wines.