CHINA – CEEC

CHINA – CEEC

Subject: International Relations

Context: Lithuania said it was quitting China’s 17+1 cooperation forum with central and eastern European states that includes other EU members, calling it “divisive”.

Concept:

• Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEE, China-CEEC, a) is an initiative by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote business and investment relations between China and 16 countries of CEE (CEEC) – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
• The format was founded in 2012 in Warsaw.
• Earlier it was known as 17+1, but after Lithuania quits it in May 2021 it is known as 16+1.
• Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in Central Europe, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe (the Balkans), usually meaning former communist states from the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact in Europe.
• Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Its Capital is Vilnius.