BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday said cooperation at the local level between China and 16 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) has yielded fruitful outcomes in 2018.

Spokesperson Lu Kang told a daily news briefing that 2018 marked the Local Cooperation Year of the 16+1 (16 CEE countries and China), noting that cooperation at the local level represents an important part of the 16+1 cooperation.

Over the past year, China and CEEC have actively promoted local exchanges and cooperation and successfully held the 4th Local Leaders' Meeting of China and CEEC, Lu said.

Meanwhile, local governments of the 16+1 countries actively participated in pragmatic cooperation in various fields and made positive progress in such fields as park construction, economy and trade, science and technology as well as in education and cultural and people-to-people exchanges, he added.

Lu said more than 160 pairs of sister provinces/states and cities have been established between China and CEEC.

"Practice has proved that only when the 16+1 cooperation takes root at local level can we draw more nutrients from it," said Lu, adding that China will work with CEEC to further achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.