Chinese President Xi Jinping kicks off a Central and Eastern European (CEE) trip on Friday. His state visits to Serbia and Poland, coming as Chinese companies are seeking diversified cooperation with their Central and Eastern European counterparts, is believed to send a strong signal that the two sides will further boost their economic and trade cooperation.

On the eve of Xi’s tour, Huayi Wind Energy, a Chinese company producing systems for the usage of wind energy and designing wind farms, opened a Belgrade office, marking its official entry into local wind energy market.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that Chinese companies have invested more than $5 billion in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs).

Those investment, made through mergers, acquisitions, greenfield investment, equity purchase or other approaches, cover machinery, chemical engineering, IT, telecommunication, household appliances, automobile, auto parts, commercial logistics, new energy resources, research and development, finance and agriculture.

Bilateral financial cooperation is being reinforced at the same time. The Bank of China, for instance, has opened branches in Hungary and Poland, and plans to set up a new one in the Czech Republic.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, signed a currency swap agreement worth 10 billion yuan with Hungary’s central bank, and 2 billion yuan with Albania’s.

The Export-Import Bank of China also established the China-CEE Fund with an initial investment of $500 million in partnership with local state-backed financial institutions to capitalise on investment opportunities in the region. Another $1 billion for further investments has been earmarked.

The state-owned China Development Bank provided a special loan of 1 billion euros for development projects between Hungary and China. Three private-owned Chinese companies were listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange.

CEFC China Energy Company Limited, a private collective enterprise specializing in energy and financial services, is mulling expanding its banking business in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Export-Import Bank of China also cooperated with Hungarian and Bulgarian banks on credit and loans.

VeljkoJovanovic, advisor of the president of the Serbian Chamber for Commerce and Industry, said that his country now gives priorities to investment, especially foreign direct investment.

The needed investment mainly includes those related to infrastructure construction, improvement of the added value of the exporting products and employment, said him, adding that his country also provides investors with preferential policies.

Those Chinese companies planning to invest in Serbia can consider public-private partnerships or other innovative financing models, Jovanovic suggested at last.