A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that the country attaches great importance to developing economic and trade ties with Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin made the remarks at a routine press briefing in response to a question on whether China is considering turning the emphasis of its diplomatic efforts in Europe toward the CEE countries, as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit has achieved gratifying results in economic and trade cooperation with the CEE countries.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao attended a China-CEE leaders' meeting on Thursday in Warsaw, Poland. The meeting, which gathered leaders from 16 CEE countries, was the first of its kind.

On Thursday, Wen also addressed a China-CEE business forum, where he announced a plan to set up a 10-billion-U.S.-dollar line of credit to support cooperative projects with central and eastern Europe.

Noting that China and the CEE nations share a traditional friendship, Liu praised the sustainable development of bilateral ties.

China and the CEE nations are both at a crucial stage in their development and have great potential for economic cooperation, he said, adding that it is the common will of both sides to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, especially against the backdrop of the international financial crisis and the Eurozone debt crisis.

Economic and trade cooperation is the most dynamic and most promising area in China's relations with the CEE countries, said Liu.

He said China is willing to make joint efforts with the CEE countries to further expand trade cooperation, enhance two-way investment and boost economic and technical cooperation.

"We will take full advantage of the cooperative mechanisms between the two sides to promote the facilitation of two-way investment in order to create sound conditions for the sustained and healthy development of economic and trade ties between the two sides," he said.

China and the European Union are comprehensive strategic partners, and China has always supported the European integration process and a more influential Europe in the world, said Liu.

Most of the 16 CEE countries have already joined the EU, and the remaining countries all hope to gain EU membership, he said.

The friendly cooperation between China and the CEE countries is an important component of overall China-Europe ties, he said, noting that mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides is conducive to the comprehensive development of China-Europe relations.

Wen started his visit to Poland on Wednesday. Poland is the last leg of his four-nation European tour. He has visited Iceland and Sweden, and attended the Hannover Messe, a world-leading industrial fair in Germany.