From the editors’ preface:

Patrycja Pendrakowska offers an economist’s perspective on the 17+1 initiative, which China established to support its connectivity goals among Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries. Pendrakowska contrasts the high expectations in the initiative of inward investment from China with the prevalent sense of disappointment of European partners after half a decade with just a few projects realized and investment flows still largely ignoring the region in favor of the economic powerhouses in Western Europe. China’s recent Moscow-leaning neutrality in the war in Ukraine further weakens the attractiveness of the 17+1 platform.