China and Central and Eastern European Cooperation: The Belt and Road Initiative

China's The Belt and Road initiative has attracted worldwide attention as a strategy for China to take a larger role in global affairs. As Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is an important region along the Belt and Road, CEE countries have made growing cooperation with China. Before the formal initiation of the Belt and Road, China has established the "16+1" cooperative framework in 2002. Both the construction of the Belt and Road initiative in the CEE and the "16+1" cooperative framework are important practice for China's 21st Century "opening up" policy. Think tanks in the CEE region have attached more importance to the current prospects and challenges of China-CEE cooperation under these initiatives. As bilateral cooperation deepenes, further analyses of how CEE scholars consider the Belt and Road initiative and the "16+1" cooperation, as well as an analyses of current challenges, is needed. This book will be helpful for those interested in the latest progress of the Belt and Road initiative and the "16+1" cooperation. It also will provide readers useful information for the promotion of the Belt and Road initiative in the CEE region and the deepening of the "16+1" cooperation. (Series: China Advanced Research and Analysis) [Subject: Chinese Studies, Asian Studies, Politics, Global Economics]