A Model for the Belt and Road Initiative: China’s Cultural Diplomacy Toward Central and Eastern European Countries

2017 ◽  
pp. 55-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilei Song ◽  
Zhao Qiqi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

scholarly journals China’s Belt and Road Initiative Extension to Central and Eastern European Countries - Sixteen Nations, Five Summits, Many Challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (78) ◽  
pp. 57-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marsela Musabelliu
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Cooperation Mechanism ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

Abstract The Belt and Road Initiative proclaimed by President Xi in 2013, a strategy developed by the Chinese government, is very important to China but is not confined to China. In order for the initiative to be successful it needs to be embraced by the countries on the terrestrial and maritime route indicated in the plan. In the late 1980s Deng Xiaoping proposed to integrate Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (Zhongguo Tese Shehui Zhuyi, ) into global capitalism and in the 1990s the Jiang Zemin leadership initiated the Going out policy (Zouchuqu Zhanlue, ) – the current Belt and Road Initiative is China’s continuation in implementing those policies into actual deeds. China’s accession to WTO in 2001 marked China’s full integration into the global economy and since then the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become the largest trading partner for more than 180 countries. The Xi-Li administration has been extremely proactive since it was established in 2012; from that year on, Chinese behavior in international affairs has gained an ever-growing role as a forger of economic and diplomatic ties between countries. The primary example of this behavior is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As every serious foreign policy plan, the BRI is an accumulation of various other initiatives. For example, the cooperation mechanism “16+1”, with which the PRC has approached Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), can be integrated under the BRI. This paper analizes the “16+1” China-CEEC cooperation mechanism in the context of the bigger BRI initiative, and tries to comprehend the economic and political factors intertwined with its implementation.

scholarly journals Central and Eastern European Countries Toward the Belt and Road Initiative: The Role of 16+1 Initiative

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 11-36
Author(s):  
Monika Bąk
Keyword(s):  
European Countries ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Bilateral Cooperation ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

The 16+1 concept (including 16 Central and Eastern European countries and China) is complementary to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This article explores different aspects of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), focusing on the perception of cooperation through the prism of foreign direct investments (FDI) and individual Central and Eastern Europe-16 (CEE-16) countries (bilateral links between China and a given country against the background of CEE-16). This article is an attempt to present and interpret facts and issues related to cooperation as well as to explore rational applications in terms of future forms of cooperation. It is clear that there is a need to develop more effective mechanisms of cooperation, using the established secretariats and other institutions beyond them. The article also makes recommendations for bilateral cooperation between China and individual countries, including actions at the regional level. Moreover, the postulates resulting from this analysis indicate the need to harmonize and improve the availability of economic data relating to economic cooperation within the framework of the 16+1 initiative, especially in the context of the group of European countries outside the European Union (EU).

scholarly journals Eastern Europe in the Policy of ‘Belt And Road’: Is There a Place for Ukraine?

2019 ◽  
pp. 647-654
Author(s):  
Viktor Konstantynov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

The article examines China’s policy in Eastern Europe within the framework of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’. The level of Ukraine’s involvement in the cooperation within the framework of this initiative and China’s policy in general is analyzed. It is stressed that in recent years, the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative is not only economic but also political and security project of China. The main purpose of the initiative is to consolidate the role of Beijing as one of the leaders in the modern world. It is noted that Europe is becoming increasingly important in China’s foreign policy. How-ever, in this region, it cannot use the usual strategy of wielding its influence, worked out in Asia and Africa. Therefore, Central and Eastern Europe, new EU members and candidate countries are considered as objects for spreading Chinese influence in the Old World. The article identifies the principal reasons for Beijing’s particular attention to Central and Eastern Europe. The main one is the relative weakness of state and political institutions and their vulnerability to financial and political instruments of the spread of Chinese influence. Also, the importance of the European Union as a market for Chinese goods continues to grow, therefore making the transit through the territory of the Eastern European countries increasingly important for Beijing. The significance of the ‘16+1’ format on the formation of a specific role of China in the region is considered. It is argued that the formal ground of the absence of Ukraine in the Chinese strategy in Central and Eastern Europe is that our state is not involved in the ‘16+1’ format. However, bilateral relations with Ukraine do not differ from those with Central and Eastern European countries. An important factor is the lack of Ukraine’s influence on political decisions of the EU, which is the main criterion for China. This accounts for the insufficient level of Ukraine’s involvement in the cooperation within the framework of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative. Keywords: ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, the People’s Republic of China, Eastern Europe, European Union, Ukraine, politics.

scholarly journals China’s One Belt and One Road Initiative and Outward Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Degong Ma ◽  
Chun Lei ◽  
Farid Ullah ◽  
Raza Ullah ◽  
Qadar Bakhsh Baloch
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Chinese Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
The Belt And Road

For the last few years, the execution of the Belt and Road Initiative (hereinafter referred to as the BRI) and China’s outward foreign direct investment (hereinafter referred to as OFDI) in Europe have seen a significant upward trend. For our current paper, we collected empirical data pertaining to China’s OFDI and foreign trade (gathered from 21 European countries in the trade gravity market for the period 2003 to 2016) that yielded the following results: (a) China’s OFDI to Europe has significantly promoted international trade between China and European countries. On the other hand, OFDI has equally promoted China’s exports to European counties, while it has not encouraged China’s imports from European counties. (b) The Belt and Road Initiative has had a positive impact on China’s exports to European counties and has had a negative impact on China’s imports from European counties. (c) There have been both complementary trade impacts and substitution trade impacts when China has directly invested in European countries, but the complementary impact was much stronger than its substitution impact in the chosen sample period.

scholarly journals Towards a Balanced Synergy of Visions and Interests: Latvia’s Perspectives in 16+1 and Belt and Road Initiatives

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (78) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andris Spruds
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Abstract The article analyses China’s 16+1 and Belt and Road initiatives from Latvia’s perspective. Although the initiatives provide engagement on a large scale, it is challenging to achieve the task of achieving a synergy between a variety of stakeholders and interests in the context of a diversity of visions and agendas. The strategic dimension of transcontinental initiatives complicates further the building of synergy. Connectivity is an important and promising principle of both initiatives and transcontinental infrastructural linkages are especially high on the agenda. Mutually beneficial progress, however, must yet be achieved. In times of uncertainty, Central and Eastern European countries, including Latvia, are engaged in a balancing process of potential economic benefits and strategic implications of the 16+1 and Belt and Road initiatives.

Neuro-fuzzy network based analysis between the “Introduction of foreign-invested shares”, the “belt and road initiative” and the “international competitiveness of Chinese local state-owned enterprises”

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Chuan Lin ◽  
Yinzhong Chen ◽  
Jing Liao ◽  
Dongxuan Liu
Keyword(s):  
International Competitiveness ◽  
European Market ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Neuro Fuzzy ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Fuzzy Network ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Belt And Road

Stimulated by the “Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI), Chinese enterprises are participating in the markets of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). With the Chinese local SOEs from 2007 to 2017 as samples, this paper empirically verified the impact of the introduction of foreign-invested shares (foreign shares for short) on the international competitiveness of these enterprises, as well as the mediation effect of the BRI strategy. In this paper, we propose neuro -fuzzy network based correlation analysis and empirical analysis found that there’s a significant positive correlation between the introduction of foreign shares and the international competitiveness of Chinese local SOEs, that is, compared with local SOEs without foreign shares, those with foreign shares enjoy stronger international competitiveness when participating in the Central and Eastern European market; after the mediation effect of BRI has been taken into consideration, the introduction of foreign shares further strengthened the positive impact on the international competitiveness of these enterprises. This is because the BRI has significantly promoted the participation of Chinese SOEs in the Central and Eastern European market.

scholarly journals Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European states within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the ‘17+1’ mechanism

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-253
Author(s):  
Sergey Yun ◽  
◽  
Vitaly Pakulin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Cooperation Mechanism ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

The Belt and Road initiative (BRI) is a large-scale geo-economic project which is an integral part of China’s contemporary foreign policy. The foundation of this project is the vast network of trade and transport communications by land and sea that encompasses countries of the Eurasian continent as well as Africa. The European destination is a key link of the project: most of the transit ways of the BRI lead to the EU and European countries. The Central and Eastern Europe region (CEE) occupies a special place in China’s strategy of the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative: the countries of this region are located on the main trade routes from China to the most developed European countries. Moreover, the CEE countries are in dire need of investment and infrastructure development. In 2012 China launched a multilateral cooperation mechanism with 16 CEE countries (in 2019 the number of participants increased to 17 due to the accession of Greece). This article aims at analyzing the structure and functioning of the mechanism, key areas of activity within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative, and the problems and prospects of cooperation between China and the CEE countries. The main hypothesis of the work is that China uses the ‘17 + 1’ mechanism as a tool for establishing bilateral cooperation with selected countries of the region. Such an approach evokes criticism from the CEE states, as well as EU institutions. The current situation shows that China needs to make adjustments to its strategy for the implementation of the BRI initiative in the region. The authors used legislation and materials from official websites of EU institutions, China and the CEE countries’ government agencies, statistical data and analytical papers by international organizations, as well as material from news agencies.

scholarly journals THE SINO-WESTERN BALKANS RELATIONS WITHIN "BELT AND ROAD" INITIATIVE AMIDST THE WORLD’S GRAPPLING WITH THE RISE OF CHINA

TEME ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Sanja Arezina
Keyword(s):  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Positive Direction ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Basic Hypothesis ◽  
The One ◽  
The Belt And Road

The Sino-Western Balkans cooperation has advanced significantly since the Great Recession and the Eurozone crisis. Relations were developed at the bilateral and multilateral levels, within the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative (Belt and Road Initiative – BRI) which was promoted in 2013 and which included the previously established Mechanism of Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries ("17+1" Mechanism). Although the Chinese President Xi Jinping called BRI a "project of the century" in 2017, new international circumstances caused by the intensified the Sino-US rivalry and the COVID-19 pandemic made the Chinese leadership reconsider activities and funding abroad, and adjust the new 14th Five-Year Plan with changes that have taken place in the past five years. They decided that China will focus on "dual circulation" in the coming period, i.e. to reduce the numerous activities and investments (and loans) within the BRI, and to redirect funds to investing in domestic capacities. In this article, the author discusses the China-Western Balkans relations from 1949 until 2013 when the BRI implementation started, the factors influencing China’s cooperation with the Western Balkans and analyzes the progress of cooperation after the start of the BRI implementation compared to the previous period. In order to prove the basic hypothesis, that Sino-Western Balkan cooperation within the "Belt and Road" Initiative will continue to develop in a positive direction, despite the influence of negative factors, and above all due to the good results achieved within the "Belt and Road" Initiative in 2013, the author uses the structural-functional analysis, comparative analysis, induction and deduction.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document