The 9th China-Central and Eastern European Countries Summit in February this year witnessed President Xi Jinping emphasise the growth of trade between China and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, its intention to import more than US $170 billion of goods from the region, and further promotion of vaccine cooperation. At the same time, six out of the 12 participating EU member states sent their ministers, not heads of state, as representatives for the Summit. This may indicate the differing levels of importance the two groupings have assigned to the cooperation—with China hoping the framework moves forward while the CEE countries grow dissatisfied with the engagement’s outcome.
The 16+1 Initiative: Judged Too Quickly? | ORF (orfonline.org)