China’s Multilateral Discourse, and Engagement with Central and Eastern European Countries

Abstract

China’s multilateral diplomacy has distinct characteristics. It is based on the discursive positions of ‘peaceful development’ and ‘shared destiny.’ These discourses in effect have shaped the principles of open and inclusive cooperation, and win-win approach. realizing the importance of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), china has established a 17+1 Cooperation framework in 2012 for the purpose of deeper socio-economic cooperation with CEE countries. China’s rise coupled with the CEE countries’ need for trade, investment and financial support paved the way for the start of the new profound partnership with the CEE. Though, the cooperation between China and CEE countries under the 17+1 Framework has witnessed a steady growth but it has not achieved the desired results of deeper cooperation and broad policy alignment. In this paper effort has been made to analyze the nature and dimension of the Chinese multilateral diplomacy with special focus on the structure and features of China-CEE cooperation at regional level. This paper is divided into three parts. Firstly, it evaluates the nature and dimensions of China’s multilateral approach. Secondly, it explores the discursive sources of multilateral diplomacy of China. And Finally, it explains the China-led 17+1 Regional Framework, its structure and features of cooperation under it.