China’s foreign policy towards Central and Eastern Europe: The “16+1” format in the South–South cooperation perspective. Cases of the Czech Republic and Hungary

Abstract

This article discusses the “16+1” format initiated in 2012 as a platform for economic, trade, and cultural cooperation between Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and China. As Chinese authorities claim, the “16+1” initiative is complementary to the “New Silk Road” strategy, being a pragmatic formula without political goals, whose main rationale is to bring mutual benefits to all of its participants (win–win). However, despite the Chinese narratives concerning cooperation with the CEE countries as an economic bridgehead of the “One Road, One Belt” (OBOR) initiative, some signs of the political dimension of the project can be noticed. Since at least the 1950s, active participation and promotion of the South–South cooperation has become an important component of China’s foreign relations. Although for Chinese policy makers Sino–South relations have been traditionally defined within the frame of, mostly postcolonial, developing countries of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America, this article tries to examine the “South–South” pattern of China’s diplomacy towards Central and Eastern European states with a focus on the Czech Republic and Hungary. China as a “spokesman of the weak”: The origins of China’s policy towards the