This week, 16 Central and Eastern European (CEE) heads of state gather with Chinese officials in Hungary for the sixth meeting of the “16+1” format. Created in 2012, the “16+1” has gathered extensive attention in the EU, as a Chinese diplomatic initiative neither directed towards Brussels nor (officially) toward single member states.
“Beijing’s star is rising in central and eastern European nations,” reports the Financial Times, citing data collected in collaboration with the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project.
The magnitude of the Balkan Silk Road project poses a mixture of opportunities and policy challenges for countries engaging in or seeking to benefit from its implementation.
Chinese infrastructure investment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is on the rise, according to data collected by Reconnecting Asia in collaboration with the Financial Times. A focal point of this investment is the 16+1 format, which brings together China and 16 CEE countries. In November, at the sixth annual 16+1 summit, Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced an additional $2.4 billion in development-oriented financial cooperation loans. We asked a group of experts to comment on China’s rising economic engagement in the region, which has been called the “gateway to Europe” for its flagship foreign policy initiative, the Belt and Road.