China will deepen cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries in the financial industry by grasping opportunities provided by the Belt and Road Initiative, officials and financial institution executives said.

China and the CEE countries will make a stronger contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative by strengthening interconnectivity, international cooperation in industry and coordination of development strategies, said Pan Guangwei, executive vice-president of the China Banking Association, at a summit on frontier issues in the financial sector held by the Asian Financial Cooperation Association in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday.

Yang Zaiping, secretary-general of the association, urged more international cooperation for better financial development and risk management both at national and institutional levels.

Huang Hong, vice-chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said China will explore the establishment of a financial regulatory cooperation mechanism with CEE countries to build a solid defense against global and regional financial risks, while the difficulties in preventing and controlling economic and financial risks are increasing.

Last year, bilateral trade between China and 16 CEE countries rose by 9.5 percent year-on-year to $58.65 billion.

Yuan Linjiang, chairman of China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation, said continued increase in cooperation between China and CEE countries will lead to a huge demand for risk management, which calls for deeper and more comprehensive collaboration in their insurance sectors.