China's Baltic Incrementalism

Since its inception in 2012, China's “16+1” cooperation platform—an initiative aimed at intensifying Beijing's economic and cultural ties with 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe—has attracted great speculation about China's motives and questions about the format's concrete deliverables. Controversy over Beijing's proposals to finance critical infrastructure, increase foreign direct investment (FDI), and boost trade has arisen both from within the 16 participating countries and from EU neighbors. In this atmosphere of political ambivalence, however, the Baltic states have succeeded in capitalizing on their relationship with China without antagonizing Brussels. They have increased their visibility in China and boosted people-to-people contacts. Many of China's European counterparts remain frustrated by the low levels of economic gain, but the Baltic States are satisfied with what they have achieved with China.