As Chinese President Xi Jinping readies to kick off his Central and Eastern European trip on Friday, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang hailed the fruits reaped by the practical cooperation between the two nations in an article published by People's Daily.

Li cited the infrastructure projects constructed or funded by Chinese companies as an example of bilateral collaboration. 

The projects include the Pupin Bridge, a road bridge over the Danube River in Belgrade, a power plant in Kostolac, the E763 Highway between Serbia and Montenegro, and the Budapest-Belgrade Railway.

Both sides are currently mulling cooperation on waste-to-energy projects and industrial parks, Li said. 

In a recent interview with People’s Daily, Serbian Ambassador to China Milan Bačević also praised the acquisition of the Smederevo-based steel plant, which had been running at a loss, by Hebei Iron and Steel Group this April. “The project injects strong impetus to the economic competitiveness of Serbia,” he noted. 

As a gate to the European market, Serbia provides “huge conveniences for Chinese enterprises,” the ambassador said. 

Further plans for Serbia include discussions with Macedonia in a canal linking the Danube and the Aegean Sea. 

The success of those projects benefits from the "16+1" cooperation framework initiated in 2012. 

The new cooperation platform established by China and the 16 Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) aims to deepen traditional friendship, enhance win-win cooperation and push for a balanced China-Europe relationship. 

Statistics show that the trade volume between China and CEECs totaled at $56.2 billion in 2015, an increase of 28 percent from 2010. Chinese companies have invested more than $5 billion in CEECs, and the 16 CEECs have invested more than $1.2 billion in China.