This study addresses China’s cooperation with Central and Eastern European (CEECs) countries, centred around what is popularly known as the ‘16 + 1’ process. It aims to unravel the link between China’s domestic sources and its ambition to become an international leader in the global economic order and governance related to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that China’s economic expansion to faraway regions like CEE is a necessary outgrowth of its developmental state model, both economically and politically. The nature of this model has largely dictated China’s way of engaging the CEE region and its concomitant outcomes and responses. Although the era of globalisation has afforded China good opportunities to expand in the global economic domain, it has found itself substantially constrained by diverse factors, both domestic and external. Despite some notable progress, this complexity requires China to generate feasible strategic choices if it wishes to succeed in its global economic endeavours. Given that China must adapt to the outside world, its foreign partners should in turn accommodate China in this globalised world.