BEIJING, May 16 -- A ministerial meeting on economic and trade promotion between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries will open in early June, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman announced on Friday.

Shen Danyang said the conference, together with an exhibition of products from CEE countries, will be held in the city of Ningbo, in east China's Zhejiang Province.

"Preparation for the two events is going smoothly," Shen said.

The meeting takes the theme of "deepening pragmatic cooperation, achieving common development," with topics covering trade promotion, mutual investment and cooperation in infrastructure construction.

This conference is organized by the ministry in line with decisions made in a cooperation guideline between China and CEE countries signed last November in Bucharest, capital of Romania.