Year 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of the ’17+1 initiative’, a mechanism of China-CEEC Cooperation, which was set up to promote China’s relations with CEE countries. Yet, no big celebrations are foreseen. Moreover, no summits or other landmark events are planned, as no single CEE country has shown an enthusiasm to host an event of this type. A visible fatigue to the format is definitely observed in Europe, which has been metaphorically described by one Eastern European diplomat as an approach of the Cheshire Cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: to smile and then to disappear. “We are not going to be loud about it”, – he said. “But we are ignoring all 16+1 invitations.”