The gathering in Sofia comes two years after Rīga played host to the previous summit - an occasion notable for the announcement of a new 10 billion euro fund which Latvia signed up to, and about which very little has been heard since.
The theme of the summit in Bulgaria is "To deepen open and pragmatic cooperation for inclusive prosperity."
Also during the visit, M. Kučinskis will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.
The 16+1 is a Chinese initiative to activate cooperation with 11 EU Member States and 5 Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia , Slovenia, Hungary) in the fields of investment, transport, finance, science, education and culture. China is Latvia's largest trading partner in the Far East.
The 16+1 summit took place for the first time in 2012 in Warsaw, Poland. In 2016 Latvia was the host and last year it was Hungary.
