SOFIA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- An international conference focused on agricultural cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) was held Thursday in Sofia, bringing officials and experts to reflect on past achievements and explore more prospects.

The event marked the 10th anniversary of the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the CEECs, Wang Min, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria, highlighted the growth and progress made since the association was established at the intergovernmental level in Sofia on June 26, 2015.

Wang noted that bilateral trade in agricultural products between China and the CEEC has grown significantly over the past decade. Technological cooperation in agriculture continues to deepen, and exchanges in agricultural talent have steadily progressed.

Describing the sector as "one of the earliest established, most fruitful, most widely recognized, and most broadly participated" within the China-CEEC cooperation framework, Wang emphasized the association's role in developing e-commerce and logistics hubs. These cooperations have brought CEECs' agricultural products to major exhibitions in China, such as the Bulgarian National Pavilion in Hangzhou and the China-CEEC Agricultural Products Exhibition Hall in Ningbo.

Lozana Vasileva, deputy minister of agriculture and food of Bulgaria, also commended her country's cooperation with China. She stressed that through the successful implementation of numerous initiatives, programs, and projects, the association has effectively promoted agricultural and food trade between China and the CEEC, and she expressed confidence in achieving further mutually beneficial outcomes.

Leng Changjian, president of Shandong Agricultural University, also spoke at the event. He lauded the agricultural cooperation between China and CEECs while acknowledging the challenges ahead. "Standing at a new historical juncture, cooperation between China and CEEC is brimming with boundless vitality and energy, and the prospects for future collaboration are vast," he said.

The conference also featured a prize ceremony for the December 2024 edition of the Academy for Entrepreneurship in Agriculture, initiated by the association. Gergana Kermenova, 18 years old, won a prize of 5,000 BGN (some 2,965 U.S. dollars) for her innovative solution to a honey marketing problem in Bulgaria.

Aspiring to a career in agriculture, particularly in beekeeping, Kermenova credited the academy for fueling her ambition. "The academy gave me a lot. It was really inspiring, the lecturers were very interesting, and I learned a lot of important things for the future," she said. ■