China has further deepened agricultural cooperation with Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) following Tuesday's launch of a digital agriculture innovation platform in Jinan, Shandong province.

The digital platform was unveiled during the annual conference of the China-CEEC Innovation Alliance for Modern Agricultural Science and Education. It focuses on facility agriculture, with an emphasis on greenhouse cultivation, including technological research and development, model innovation, and demonstration and promotion.

Established in 2024, the alliance now brings together 77 agricultural science, education, and industry entities. Since its inception, the alliance has facilitated 20 joint development projects in areas such as crop breeding, smart agriculture, soil improvement, and agricultural product processing.

It has also supported over 200 academic visits and student exchanges between China and CEEC.

The alliance will prioritize the development of two joint laboratories, which were also launched on Tuesday. A China-Greece lab will focus on smart and sustainable agriculture, while a China-Serbia lab will tackle grain loss and poverty alleviation.

The China-Greece lab "aims to build a technological system covering five areas, including smart, green and efficient crop production and digital horticulture," said Xue Dongming, deputy director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Department of Shandong Agricultural University.

"We are going to combine digital technologies and green technologies to make the best use of resources in agriculture so as to protect the environment, minimize the use of water, and minimize the use of fertilizer and pesticide," said Papadakis George, a member of the European Academy of Sciences in Greece.

The agricultural conference was part of the seventh China-CEEC Local Leaders Meeting and the 2026 Shandong International Friendship Cities Cooperation & Exchange Week, which will conclude on May 29.