BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) has served the purpose of supporting the respective development and bettering people's lives, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday.

Xi commended the various achievements of China-CEEC cooperation when addressing the China-CEEC Summit held via video link.

Today, trade between China and CEE countries is nearly 85 percent bigger than nine years ago, and the number of mutual tourist visits has grown nearly four times, noted Xi.

Xi added that the China-Europe Railway Express has reached most of the CEE countries, running more than 30,000 freight services so far.

Impressive progress has been made in a number of cooperation projects, including the Port of Piraeus in Greece, the Smederevo Steel Plant in Serbia and the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia, said Xi.