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China eyes ‘17+1’ summit as gateway to European vaccine market, but can it inject interest?
- Meeting of the bloc could allow Beijing to make vaccine diplomacy push and reassert influence as US returns to multilateral stage under Joe Biden
- But 17+1 forum has lost some appeal among leaders of Central and Eastern European countries, according to reports
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China is facing an uphill battle to shore up relations with its informal grouping of Eastern European nations at an online summit this week, where it is expected to push for a foothold in the European vaccine market.
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After last year’s planned in-person summit of the “17+1” group was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, an online forum scheduled for Tuesday had yet to be officially announced by Beijing a day before it was due to happen. There was no mention of the forum at Monday’s press conference by the Chinese foreign ministry.
It comes at a strained time in the group’s nine-year existence, with China struggling to generate strong interest in the online forum among Central and Eastern European (CEE) leaders.
China is nonetheless expected to use the forum as an opportunity to further push for the use of its vaccines in CEE nations, after Hungary last week became the first European Union member state to sign up for distribution of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine.
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“The 17+1 summit will help China further open up the vaccine market in [CEE nations],” said Ding Yifan, a researcher at the China Development Research Centre, under the State Council, China’s cabinet. “European countries dismiss vaccines produced by China and Russia, but essentially because they are fighting for market share.”
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