"China-Europe freight trains have played a significant role in boosting infrastructure connectivity among the Belt and Road countries, and meeting transportation needs in international trade," said Zhu Shuai, researcher with the China Center for Information Industry Development under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
At the bilateral level, China has signed cooperation documents with seven CEE countries, including Serbia and Poland, to promote the Belt and Road Initiative.
Transport and energy infrastructure cooperation serve as a highlight of China's relations with CEE countries.
Serbia, for example, has cooperated with China on a number of infrastructure projects, including the Mihajlo Pupin Bridge, the expansion and upgrading of Kostolac Power Plant, and the Belgrade-Budapest railway.
Cooperation projects carried out under the 16+1 mechanism will "not only help accelerate CEE growth, but also balance development in different European regions and greatly promote Europe's integration process," Zhu commented.
STRENGTHENED CHINA-EUROPE TIES
With CEE serving as an important gateway to Europe, the 16+1 mechanism is important to China-Europe cooperation. Headway made in China-CEE cooperation supplements and promotes China-Europe ties.
Leaders of European countries and China have on various occasions vowed to push for the integration of their development strategies, which place special emphasis on infrastructure development and industrial capacity cooperation.
During German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to China earlier this month, the two sides agreed to boost cooperation on conjoining China's "Made in China 2025" blueprint and Germany's "Industrial 4.0" strategy.
China and Europe are also seeking cooperation in projects like the Trans-European Transport Networks, China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line and New Eurasian Continental Bridge.
High-level visits have helped bolster the cooperation.
In recent years, President Xi has made several visits to European countries, including the Netherlands, France, Germany and Belgium in 2014; Britain in 2015; and the Czech Republic in March this year.
Such visits could lead to better understanding and alignment of each other's strategies, new cooperation projects and more effective implementation of existing ones, Cui Hongjian with the China Institute of International Studies said.
"After all, it is bilateral cooperation in concrete projects that shores up 16+1 cooperation, and the integration of China's and Europe's development strategies," Cui said.
