Central and Eastern European Countries Toward the Belt and Road Initiative: The Role of 16+1 Initiative

Abstract

The 16+1 concept (including 16 Central and Eastern European countries and China) is complementary to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This article explores different aspects of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), focusing on the perception of cooperation through the prism of foreign direct investments (FDI) and individual Central and Eastern Europe-16 (CEE-16) countries (bilateral links between China and a given country against the background of CEE-16). This article is an attempt to present and interpret facts and issues related to cooperation as well as to explore rational applications in terms of future forms of cooperation. It is clear that there is a need to develop more effective mechanisms of cooperation, using the established secretariats and other institutions beyond them. The article also makes recommendations for bilateral cooperation between China and individual countries, including actions at the regional level. Moreover, the postulates resulting from this analysis indicate the need to harmonize and improve the availability of economic data relating to economic cooperation within the framework of the 16+1 initiative, especially in the context of the group of European countries outside the European Union (EU).