17+1 initiative

GS PAPER II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora - their structure, mandate.

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

• The Baltic country urged fellow EU members to pursue “a much more effective 27+1 approach and communication with China.”
• Lithuania also took several steps that angered Beijing, including the blocking of Chinese investment and announcing it would open a trade office in Taiwan.

17+1 initiative

• It is a China-led format founded in 2012 in Budapest.
• Aim: To expand cooperation between Beijing and the CEE member countries, with investments and trade for the development of the CEE region.
• It also focuses on infrastructure projects such as bridges, motorways, railway lines and modernisation of ports in the member states.
• The initiative includes twelve EU member states and five Balkan states — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
• The platform is largely seen as an extension of China’s flagship Belt and Road initiative (BRI).
• The format's goals are to promote the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and enhance cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, transportation and logistics, trade and investment".
• These goals are supported by "growing ties in the areas of culture, education and tourism, cultural exchanges, think tanks and NGOs.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/lithuania-quits-divisive-china-group/article34629296.ece