Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries with the Belt and Road Initiative

As defined in the “16+1 cooperation” framework set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC in 2012, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries herein include: 4 Visegrad Group countries, i.e. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Eastern and Southern European countries of Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia–Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania; and 3 Baltic Sea countries, i.e. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. ¹ Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries means China’s cooperation with the above 16 countries. In 2012, China and 16 CEE countries jointly established a new cooperation platform, i.e. Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (hereinafter referred to as “the 16+1 cooperation plan”). After the joint efforts of all countries concerned for 5 years, a leaders’ meeting mechanism and a cooperation platform in various fields of policy coordination, economy and trade, culture, education, agriculture, traffic, tourism, technology, health, think tank, locality and youth have been established under the “16+1 cooperation” plan framework, which has made a substantial achievement and been extensively welcomed by the people from China and CEE countries. ²