The Impact of the “16+1” Initiative on the Relations between Bulgaria and China

Bulgarian Historical Review, 54 (2026), No. 2, pp. 176-201
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71069/BHR2.26.EK06

Evgeniy Kandilarov

Evgeniy Kandilarov, Ph. D. - Assoc. Professor at the Japanese Studies Department, Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology, St. Kliment Ohridski Sofia University, 1504 Sofia, 15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., Sofia, Bulgaria;
Institute for Historical Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 52, Shipchenski Prohod Blvd., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria. ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4810-0417; E-mail: ekandilarov@abv.bg

Abstract: China-CEEC cooperation has provided new driving force to China-CEEC traditional friendship, built a new platform for mutually beneficial cooperation and served as a new engine for deepening China-Europe relations for mutual benefit and the so called “win-win” cooperation. This was set as an official Chinese description of the international initiative called “16+1”, that has been launched more than 13 years ago. One of the most important things for the further development of the China CEEC relations was the fact that 16+1 Initiative has been integrated into the grand Belt and Road initiative (BRI) strategy officially announced in 2013. However, what are the real results of the functioning of this mechanism over a period of 13 years? What is its impact on the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and China? Politically, the past thirteen years have seen a significant rapprochement between Bulgaria and China. Within this period Bulgarian presidents visited China twice – in 2014 and 2019, while the Bulgarian prime minister visited China in 2015. China’s premier, in turn, visited Bulgaria in 2018. The framework of bilateral cooperation agreements and protocols has also deepened, culminating in 2019 by the signing of a declaration that upgraded relations to a ‘strategic partnership’. At the same time several limitations were laying in front of Bulgarian government. Even before the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, the geopolitical tensions between the United States and China at the global level affected China-EU relations and hence Bulgaria-China relations. Whether Bulgaria and China will resist these challenges and maintain the positive trend in the development of their relations remains to be seen.

Keywords: China, Bulgaria, Bulgaria-China relations, China and CEEC, the Belt and Road Initiative

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